{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_42518/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_42518","id":"gutenberg_42518","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42518","summary":null,"tags":["Baptists -- Sermons","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Sermons, English -- 19th century"],"text":"Transcriber's Notes:\n\n  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal\n  signs=.\n\n  Blank pages have been eliminated.\n\n  Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the\n  original.\n\n  A few typographical errors have been corrected.\n\n\n\n\n  _Funk & Wagnalls' Important Publications._\n\n\n  The Science of Politics.\n\n  BY WALTER THOMAS MILLS,\n\n  Secretary of the National Intercollegiate Association. A timely work\n  for every citizen. The book is wholly practical and untechnical and is\n  directly suited to the needs of every citizen. 12mo, cloth, 204 pages.\n  Price, $1.00.\n\n  Pres. Julius H. Seelye, of Amherst College, says:\n  \"With its clearness and force I am much pleased.\"\n\n  Frances E. Willard says:\n\n  \"Mr. Mills has done an important service to the cause of good\n  government by setting in a clear light before the citizen his personal\n  relation to government by a political party. May his book have a\n  million readers.\"\n\n  Public Opinion, Washington, D. C., says:\n\n  \"The book is interesting and instructive, and the style is vigorous\n  and refined.\"\n\n\n  Foundation of Death.\n\n  BY AXEL GUSTAFSON,\n\n  the celebrated English Reformer. A practical study of the Drink\n  Question. 12mo, cloth, $1.50.\n\n  The Boston Transcript:\n\n  The entire subject is handled in a most judicious manner, and we\n  recommend the book as one of exceptional value in these times of\n  alcoholic discussions. No advocate of temperance can do without it,\n  for it is a compendium of the world's experience and the world's\n  opinions.\n\n\n  Nobody Knows.\n\n  BY \"A NOBODY.\"\n\n  A treatise on applied Christianity under the guise of fiction. An\n  original, interesting work. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.\n\n  A book of great directness and earnestness, in which the hero brings\n  about a moral and social reformation by a reconciliation between\n  employer and employee, between the church and the masses. A model of\n  terse epigrammatic English. Not a dull line in it.\n\n\n\n\n  TALKS TO FARMERS.\n\n\n  BY\n  REV. CHARLES H. SPURGEON.\n\n\n  NEW YORK:\n  FUNK & WAGNALLS, PUBLISHERS,\n  18 AND 20 ASTOR PLACE.\n  1889.\n\n\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                    PAGE\n\n  THE SLUGGARD'S FARM,                                 1\n\n  THE BROKEN FENCE,                                   24\n\n  FROST AND THAW,                                     39\n\n  THE CORN OF WHEAT DYING TO BRING FORTH FRUIT,       56\n\n  THE PLOUGHMAN,                                      71\n\n  PLOUGHING THE ROCK,                                 88\n\n  THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER,                          103\n\n  THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT,                               118\n\n  SPRING IN THE HEART,                               132\n\n  FARM LABORERS,                                     149\n\n  WHAT THE FARM LABORERS CAN DO, AND WHAT THEY\n  CANNOT DO,                                         164\n\n  THE SHEEP BEFORE THE SHEARERS,                     181\n\n  IN THE HAY-FIELD,                                  196\n\n  THE JOY OF HARVEST,                                211\n\n  SPIRITUAL GLEANING,                                226\n\n  MEAL-TIME IN THE CORNFIELDS,                       241\n\n  THE LOADED WAGON,                                  258\n\n  THRESHING,                                         275\n\n  WHEAT IN THE BARN,                                 290\n\n\n\n\nTALKS TO FARMERS.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SLUGGARD'S FARM.\n\n\"I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man\nvoid of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and\nnettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was\nbroken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and\nreceived instruction.\"--PROVERBS 24:30-32.\n\n\nNo doubt Solomon was sometimes glad to lay aside the robes of state,\nescape from the forms of court, and go through the country unknown. On\none occasion, when he was doing so, he looked over the broken wall of a\nlittle estate which belonged to a farmer of his country. This estate\nconsisted of a piece of ploughed land and a vineyard. One glance showed\nhim that it was owned by a sluggard, who neglected it, for the weeds had\ngrown right plentifully and covered all the face of the ground. From\nthis Solomon gathered instruction. Men generally learn wisdom if they\nhave wisdom. The artist's eye sees the beauty of the landscape because\nhe has beauty in his mind. \"To him that hath shall be given,\" and he\nshall have abundance, for he shall reap a harvest even from the field\nthat is covered with thorns and nettles. There is a great difference\nbetween one man and another in the use of the mind's eye. I have a book\nentitled, \"The Harvest of a Quiet Eye,\" and a good book it is: the\nharvest of a quiet eye can be gathered from a sluggard's land as well as\nfrom a well-managed farm. When we were boys we were taught a little\npoem, called, \"Eyes and no Eyes,\" and there was much of truth in it, for\nsome people have eyes and see not, which is much the same as having no\neyes; while others have quick eyes for spying out instruction. Some look\nonly at the surface, while others see not only the outside shell but the\nliving kernel of truth which is hidden in all outward things.\n\n_We may find instruction everywhere._ To a spiritual mind nettles have\ntheir use, and weeds have their doctrine. Are not all thorns and\nthistles meant to be teachers to sinful men? Are they not brought forth\nof the earth on purpose that they may show us what sin has done, and the\nkind of produce that will come when we sow the seed of rebellion against\nGod? \"I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the\nman void of understanding,\" says Solomon; \"I saw, and considered it\nwell: I looked upon it, and received instruction.\" Whatever you see,\ntake care to consider it well, and you will not see it in vain. You\nshall find books and sermons everywhere, in the land and in the sea, in\nthe earth and in the skies, and you shall learn from every living beast,\nand bird, and fish, and insect, and from every useful or useless plant\nthat springs out of the ground.\n\n_We may also gather rare lessons from things that we do not like._ I am\nsure that Solomon did not in the least degree admire the thorns and the\nnettles that covered the face of the vineyard, but he nevertheless found\ninstruction in them. Many are stung by nettles, but few are taught by\nthem. Some men are hurt by briers, but here is one who was improved by\nthem. Wisdom hath a way of gathering grapes of thorns and figs of\nnettles, and she distils good from herbs which in themselves are noisome\nand evil. Do not fret, therefore, over thorns, but get good out of them.\nDo not begin stinging yourself with nettles, grip them firmly, and then\nuse them for your soul's health. Trials and troubles, worries and\nturmoils, little frets and little disappointments, may all help you if\nyou will. Like Solomon, see and consider them well--look upon them, and\nreceive instruction.\n\nAs for us, we will now, first, consider _Solomon's description of a\nsluggard_: he is \"a man void of understanding\"; secondly, we shall\nnotice _his description of the sluggard's land_: \"it was all grown over\nwith thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof.\" When we have\nattended to these two matters we will close by _endeavoring to gather\nthe instruction which this piece of waste ground may yield us_.\n\nFirst, think of SOLOMON'S DESCRIPTION OF A SLOTHFUL MAN. Solomon was a\nman whom none of us would contradict, for he knew as much as all of us\nput together; and besides that, he was under divine inspiration when he\nwrote this Book of Proverbs. Solomon says, a sluggard is \"a man void of\nunderstanding.\" The slothful does not think so; he puts his hands in his\npockets, and you would think from his important air that he had all the\nBank of England at his disposal. You can see that he is a very wise man\nin his own esteem, for he gives himself airs which are meant to impress\nyou with a sense of his superior abilities. How he has come by his\nwisdom it would be hard to say. He has never taken the trouble to\nthink, and yet I dare not say that he jumps at his conclusions, because\nhe never does such a thing as jump, he lies down and rolls into a\nconclusion. Yet he knows everything, and has settled all points:\nmeditation is too hard work for him, and learning he never could endure;\nbut to be clever by nature is his delight. He does not want to know more\nthan he knows, for he knows enough already, and yet he knows nothing.\nThe proverb is not complimentary to him, but I am certain that Solomon\nwas right when he called him \"a man void of understanding.\" Solomon was\nrather rude according to the dainty manners of the present times,\nbecause this gentleman had a field and a vineyard, and as Poor Richard\nsaith, \"When I have a horse and a cow every man biddeth me good morrow.\"\nHow can a man be void of understanding who has a field and a vineyard?\nIs it not generally understood that you must measure a man's\nunderstanding by the amount of his ready cash? At all events you shall\nsoon be flattered for your attainments if you have attained unto wealth.\nSuch is the way of the world, but such is not the way of Scripture.\nWhether he has a field and a vineyard or not, says Solomon, if he is a\nsluggard he is a fool, or if you would like to see his name written out\na little larger, he is a man empty of understanding. Not only does he\nnot understand anything, but he has no understanding to understand with.\nHe is empty-headed if he is a sluggard. He may be called a gentleman, he\nmay be a landed proprietor, he may have a vineyard and a field; but he\nis none the better for what he has: nay, he is so much the worse,\nbecause he is a man void of understanding, and is therefore unable to\nmake use of his property.\n\nI am glad to be told by Solomon so plainly that a slothful man is void\nof understanding, for it is useful information. I have met with persons\nwho thought they perfectly understood the doctrines of grace, who could\naccurately set forth the election of the saints, the predestination of\nGod, the firmness of the divine decree, the necessity of the Spirit's\nwork, and all the glorious doctrines of grace which build up the fabric\nof our faith; but these gentlemen have inferred from these doctrines\nthat they have to do nothing, and thus they have become sluggards.\nDo-nothingism is their creed. They will not even urge other people to\nlabor for the Lord, because, say they, \"God will do his own work.\nSalvation is all of grace!\" The notion of these sluggards is that a man\nis to wait, and do nothing; he is to sit still, and let the grass grow\nup to his ankles in the hope of heavenly help. To arouse himself would\nbe an interference with the eternal purpose, which he regards as\naltogether unwarrantable. I have known him look sour, shake his aged\nhead, and say hard things against earnest people who were trying to win\nsouls. I have known him run down young people, and like a great steam\nram, sink them to the bottom, by calling them unsound and ignorant. How\nshall we survive the censures of this dogmatic person? How shall we\nescape from this very knowing and very captious sluggard? Solomon\nhastens to the rescue and extinguishes this gentleman by informing us\nthat he is void of understanding. Why, he is the standard of orthodoxy,\nand he judges everybody! Yet Solomon applies another standard to him,\nand says he is void of understanding. He may know the doctrine, but he\ndoes not understand it; or else he would know that the doctrines of\ngrace lead us to seek the grace of the doctrines; and that when we see\nGod at work we learn that he worketh in us, not to make us go to sleep,\nbut to will and to do of his own good pleasure. God's predestination of\na people is his ordaining them unto good works that they may show forth\nhis praise. So, if you or I shall from any doctrines, however true, draw\nthe inference that we are warranted in being idle and indifferent about\nthe things of God, we are void of understanding; we are acting like\nfools; we are misusing the gospel; we are taking what was meant for meat\nand turning it into poison. The sluggard, whether he is sluggish about\nhis business or about his soul, is a man void of understanding.\n\nAs a rule we may measure a man's understanding by his useful activities;\nthis is what the wise man very plainly tells us. Certain persons call\nthemselves \"cultured,\" and yet they cultivate nothing. Modern thought,\nas far as I have seen anything of its actual working, is a bottle of\nsmoke, out of which comes nothing solid; yet we know men who can\ndistinguish and divide, debate and discuss, refine and refute, and all\nthe while the hemlock is growing in the furrow, and the plough is\nrusting. Friend, if your knowledge, if your culture, if your education\ndoes not lead you practically to serve God in your day and generation,\nyou have not learned what Solomon calls wisdom, and you are not like the\nBlessed One, who was incarnate wisdom, of whom we read that \"he went\nabout doing good.\" A lazy man is not like our Saviour, who said, \"My\nFather worketh hitherto, and I work.\" True wisdom is practical: boastful\nculture vapors and theorizes. Wisdom ploughs its field, wisdom hoes its\nvineyard, wisdom looks to its crops, wisdom tries to make the best of\neverything; and he who does not do so, whatever may be his knowledge of\nthis, of that, or of the other, is a man void of understanding.\n\nWhy is he void of understanding? Is it not because _he has opportunities\nwhich he does not use_? His day has come, his day is going, and he lets\nthe hours glide by to no purpose. Let me not press too hardly upon any\none, but let me ask you all to press as hardly as you can upon\nyourselves while you enquire each one of himself, Am I employing the\nminutes as they fly? This man had a vineyard, but he did not cultivate\nit; he had a field, but he did not till it. Do you, brethren, use all\nyour opportunities? I know we each one have some power to serve God; do\nwe use it? If we are his children he has not put one of us where we are\nof necessity useless. Somewhere we may shine by the light which he has\ngiven us, though that light be only a farthing candle. Are we thus\nshining? Do we sow beside all waters? Do we in the morning sow our seed,\nand in the evening still stretch out our hand? for if not, we are\nrebuked by the sweeping censure of Solomon, who saith that the slothful\nis a \"man void of understanding.\"\n\nHaving opportunities he did not use them, and next, _being bound to the\nperformance of certain duties he did not fulfil them_. When God\nappointed that every Israelite should have a piece of land, under that\nadmirable system which made every Israelite a land owner, he meant that\neach man should possess his plot, not to let it lie waste, but to\ncultivate it. When God put Adam in the garden of Eden it was not that he\nshould walk through the glades and watch the spontaneous luxuriance of\nthe unfallen earth, but that he might dress it and keep it, and he had\nthe same end in view when he allotted each Jew his piece of land; he\nmeant that the holy soil should reach the utmost point of fertility\nthrough the labor of those who owned it. Thus the possession of a field\nand a vineyard involved responsibilities upon the sluggard which he\nnever fulfilled, and therefore he was void of understanding. What is\nyour position, dear friend? A father? A master? A servant? A minister? A\nteacher? Well, you have your farms and your vineyards in those\nparticular spheres; but if you do not use those positions aright you\nwill be void of understanding, because you neglect the end of your\nexistence. You miss the high calling which your Maker has set before\nyou.\n\nThe slothful farmer was unwise in these two respects, and in another\nalso; _for he had capacities which he did not employ_. He could have\ntilled the field and cultivated the vineyard if he had chosen to do so.\nHe was not a sickly man, who was forced to keep his bed, but he was a\nlazy-bones who was there of choice.\n\nYou are not asked to do in the service of God that which is utterly\nbeyond you, for it is expected of us according to what we have and not\naccording to what we have not. The man of two talents is not required to\nbring in the interest of five, but he is expected to bring in the\ninterest of two. Solomon's slothful was too idle to attempt tasks which\nwere quite within his power. Many have a number of dormant faculties of\nwhich they are scarcely aware, and many more have abilities which they\nare using for themselves, and not for Him who created them. Dear\nfriends, if God has given us any power to do good, pray let us do it,\nfor this is a wicked, weary world. We should not even cover a\nglow-worm's light in such a darkness as this. We should not keep back a\nsyllable of divine truth in a world that is so full of falsehood and\nerror. However feeble our voices, let us lift them up for the cause of\ntruth and righteousness. Do not let us be void of understanding, because\nwe have opportunities that we do not use, obligations that we do not\nfulfil, and capacities which we do not exercise.\n\nAs for a sluggard in soul matters, he is indeed void of understanding,\nfor _he trifles with matters which demand his most earnest heed_. Man,\nhast thou never cultivated thy heart? Hast the ploughshare never broken\nup the clods of thy soul? Has the seed of the Word never been sown in\nthee? or has it taken no root? Hast thou never watered the young plants\nof desire? Hast thou never sought to pull up the weeds of sin that grow\nin thy heart? Art thou still a piece of the bare common or wild heath?\nPoor soul! Thou canst trim thy body, and spend many a minute at the\nglass; dost thou not care for thy soul? How long thou takest to decorate\nthy poor flesh, which is but worm's meat, or would be in a minute if God\ntook away thy breath! And yet all the while thy soul is uncombed,\nunwashed, unclad, a poor neglected thing. Oh it should not be so. You\ntake care of the worse part and leave the better to perish through\nneglect. This is the height of folly! He that is a sluggard as to the\nvineyard of his heart is a man void of understanding. If I must be idle,\nlet it be seen in my field and my garden, but not in my soul.\n\nOr are you a Christian? Are you really saved, and are you negligent in\nthe Lord's work? Then, indeed, whatever you may be, I cannot help saying\nyou have too little understanding; for surely, when a man is saved\nhimself, and understands the danger of other men's souls, he must be in\nearnest in trying to pluck the firebrands from the flame. A Christian\nsluggard! Is there such a being? A _Christian_ man on half time? A\nChristian man working not at all for his Lord; how shall I speak of him?\n_Time_ does not tarry, DEATH does not tarry, HELL does not tarry; Satan\nis not lazy, all the powers of darkness are busy: how is it that you and\nI can be sluggish, if the Master has put us into his vineyard? Surely we\nmust be void of understanding if, after being saved by the infinite love\nof God, we do not spend and be spent in his service. The eternal fitness\nof things demands that a saved man should be an earnest man.\n\nThe Christian who is slothful in his Master's service _has no idea what\nhe is losing_; for the very cream of religion lies in holy consecration\nto God. Some people have just enough religion to make it questionable\nwhether they have any or no. They have enough godliness to make them\nuneasy in their ungodliness. They have washed enough of their face to\nshow the dirt upon the rest of it. \"I am glad,\" said a servant, \"that my\nmistress takes the sacrament, for otherwise I should not know she had\nany religion at all.\" You smile, and well you may. It is ridiculous that\nsome people should have no goods in their shop, and yet advertise their\nbusiness in all the papers; should make a show of religion, and yet have\nnone of the Spirit of God. I wish some professors would do Christ the\njustice to say, \"No, I am _not_ one of his disciples; do not think so\nbadly of him as to imagine that I can be one of them.\" We ought to be\nreflections _of_ Christ; but I fear many are reflections _upon_ Christ.\nWhen we see a lot of lazy servants, we are apt to think that their\nmaster must be a very idle person himself, or he would never put up with\nthem. He who employs sluggards, and is satisfied with their snail-like\npace, cannot be a very active man himself. O, let not the world think\nthat Christ is indifferent to human woe, that Christ has lost his zeal,\nthat Christ has lost his energy: yet I fear they will say it or think it\nif they see those who profess to be laborers in the vineyard of Christ\nnothing better than mere sluggards. The slothful, then, is a man void of\nunderstanding; he loses the honor and pleasure which he would find in\nserving his Master; he is a dishonor to the cause which he professes to\nvenerate, and he is storing up thorns for his dying pillow. Let that\nstand as settled--the slothful, whether he be a minister, deacon, or\nprivate Christian, is a man void of understanding.\n\n\nNow, secondly, LET US LOOK AT THE SLUGGARD'S LAND: \"I went by the field\nof the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;\nAnd, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the\nface thereof.\" Note, first, that _land will produce something_. Soil\nwhich is good enough to be made into a field and a vineyard must and\nwill yield some fruit or other; and so you and I, in our hearts and in\nthe sphere God gives us to occupy, will be sure to produce something. We\ncannot live in this world as entire blanks; we shall either do good or\ndo evil, as sure as we are alive. If you are idle in Christ's work, you\nare active in the devil's work. The sluggard by sleeping was doing more\nfor the cultivation of thorns and nettles than he could have done by any\nother means. As a garden will either yield flowers or weeds, fruits or\nthistles, so something either good or evil will come out of our\nhousehold, our class, or our congregation. If we do not produce a\nharvest of good wheat, by laboring for Christ, we shall grow tares to be\nbound up in bundles for the last dread burning.\n\nNote again that, if it be not farmed for God, _the soul will yield its\nnatural produce_; and what is the natural produce of land if left to\nitself? What but thorns and nettles, or some other useless weeds? What\nis the natural produce of your heart and mine? What but sin and misery?\nWhat is the natural produce of your children if you leave them untrained\nfor God? What but unholiness and vice? What is the natural produce of\nthis great city if we leave its streets, and lanes, and alleys without\nthe gospel? What but crime and infamy? Some harvest there will be, and\nthe sheaves will be the natural produce of the soil, which is sin,\ndeath, and corruption.\n\nIf we are slothful, _the natural produce of our heart and of our sphere\nwill be most inconvenient and unpleasant to ourselves_. Nobody can sleep\non thorns, or make a pillow of nettles. No rest can come out of an\nidleness which lets ill alone, and does not by God's Spirit strive to\nuproot evil. While you are sleeping, Satan will be sowing. If you\nwithhold the seed of good, Satan will be lavish with the seed of evil,\nand from that evil will come anguish and regret for time, and it may be\nfor eternity. O man, the garden put into thy charge, if thou waste thy\ntime in slumber, will reward thee with all that is noisome and painful.\n\"Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.\"\n\n_In many instances there will be a great deal of this evil produce_; for\na field and a vineyard will yield more thistles and nettles than a piece\nof ground that has never been reclaimed. If the land is good enough for\na garden, it will present its owner with a fine crop of weeds if he\nonly stays his hand. A choice bit of land fit for a vineyard of red wine\nwill render such a profusion of nettles to the slothful that he shall\nrub his eyes with surprise. The man who might do most for God, if he\nwere renewed, will bring forth most for Satan if he be let alone. The\nvery region which would have glorified God most if the grace of God were\nthere to convert its inhabitants, will be that out of which the vilest\nenemies of the gospel will arise. Rest assured of that; the best will\nbecome the worst if we neglect it. Neglect is all that is needed to\nproduce evil. If you want to know the way of salvation, I must take some\npains to tell you; but if you want to know the way to be lost, my reply\nis easy; for it is only a matter of negligence:--\"How shall we escape if\nwe neglect so great salvation?\" If you desire to bring forth a harvest\nunto God, I may need long to instruct you in ploughing, sowing, and\nwatering; but if you wish your mind to be covered with Satan's hemlock,\nyou have only to leave the furrows of your nature to themselves. The\nslothful asks for \"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of\nthe hands to sleep,\" and the thorns and thistles multiply beyond all\nnumbering, and prepare for him many a sting.\n\nWhile we look upon the lazy man's vineyard let us also peep into the\nungodly sluggard's heart. He does not care about repentance and faith.\nTo think about his soul, to be in earnest about eternity, is too much\nfor him. He wants to take things easy, and have a little more folding of\nthe arms to sleep. What is growing in his mind and character? In some of\nthese spiritual sluggards you can see drunkenness, uncleanness,\ncovetousness, anger, and pride, and all sorts of thistles and nettles;\nor where these ranker weeds do not appear, by reason of the restraint of\npious connections, you find other sorts of sin. The heart cannot be\naltogether empty, either Christ or the devil will possess it. My dear\nfriend, if you are not decided for God, you cannot be a neutral. In this\nwar every man is for God or for his enemy. You cannot remain like a\nsheet of blank paper. The legible handwriting of Satan is upon you--can\nyou not see the blots? Unless Christ has written across the page his own\nsweet name, the autograph of Satan is visible. You may say, \"I do not go\ninto open sin; I am moral,\" and so forth. Ah, if you would but look, and\nconsider, and search into your heart, you would see that enmity to God\nand to his ways, and hatred of purity, are there. You do not love God's\nlaw, nor love his Son, nor love his gospel, you are alienated in your\nheart, and there is in you all manner of evil desires and vain thoughts,\nand these will flourish and increase so long as you are a spiritual\nsluggard, and leave your heart uncultivated. O, may the Spirit of God\narouse you; may you be stirred to anxious, earnest thought, and then you\nwill see that these rank growths must be uprooted, and that your heart\nmust be turned up by the plough of conviction, and sown with the good\nseed of the gospel, till a harvest rewards the great Husbandman.\n\nFriend, if you believe in Christ, I want to peep over the hedge into\n_your heart_ also, if you are a sluggish Christian; for I fear that\nnettles and thistles are threatening you also. Did I not hear you sing\nthe other day--\n\n  \"'Tis a point I long to know\"?\n\nThat point will often be raised, for doubt is a seed which is sure to\ngrow in lazy men's minds. I do not remember reading in Mr. Wesley's\ndiary a question about his own salvation. He was so busy in the harvest\nof the Master that it did not occur to him to distrust his God. Some\nChristians have little faith in consequence of their having never sown\nthe grain of mustard-seed which they have received. If you do not sow\nyour faith by using it, how can it grow? When a man lives by faith in\nChrist Jesus, and his faith exercises itself actively in the service of\nhis Lord, it takes root, grows upward, and become strong, till it chokes\nhis doubts. Some have sadly morbid forebodings; they are discontented,\nfretful, selfish, murmuring, and all because they are idle. These are\nthe weeds that grow in sluggards' gardens. I have known the slothful\nbecome so peevish that nothing could please them; the most earnest\nChristian could not do right for them; the most loving Christians could\nnot be affectionate enough; the most active church could not be\nenergetic enough; they detected all sorts of wrong where God himself saw\nmuch of the fruit of his Spirit. This censoriousness, this contention,\nthis perpetual complaining is one of the nettles that are quite sure to\ngrow in men's gardens when they fold their arms in sinful ease. If your\nheart does not yield fruit to God it will certainly bring forth that\nwhich is mischievous in itself, painful to you, and injurious to your\nfellow-men. Often the thorns choke the good seed; but it is a very\nblessed thing when the good seed comes up so thick and fast that it\nchokes the thorns. God enables certain Christians to become so fruitful\nin Christ that their graces and works stand thick together, and when\nSatan throws in the tares they cannot grow because there is no room for\nthem. The Holy Spirit by his power makes evil to become weak in the\nheart, so that it no longer keeps the upper hand. If you are slothful,\nfriend, look over the field of your heart, and weep at the sight.\n\nMay I next ask you to look into _your own house_ and home? It is a\ndreadful thing when a man does not cultivate the field of his own\nfamily. I recollect in my early days a man who used to walk out with me\ninto the villages when I was preaching. I was glad of his company till I\nfound out certain facts, and then I shook him off, and I believe he\nhooked on to somebody else, for he must needs be gadding abroad every\nevening of the week. He had many children, and these grew up to be\nwicked young men and women, and the reason was that the father, while he\nwould be at this meeting and that, never tried to bring his own children\nto the Saviour. What is the use of zeal abroad if there is neglect at\nhome? How sad to say, \"My own vineyard have I not kept.\" Have you never\nheard of one who said he did not teach his children the ways of God\nbecause he thought they were so young that it was very wrong to\nprejudice them, and he had rather leave them to choose their own\nreligion when they grew older? One of his boys broke his arm, and while\nthe surgeon was setting it the boy was swearing all the time. \"Ah,\" said\nthe good doctor, \"I told you what would happen. You were afraid to\nprejudice your boy in the right way, but the devil had no such qualms;\nhe has prejudiced him the other way, and pretty strongly too.\" It is our\nduty to prejudice our field in favor of corn, or it will soon be covered\nwith thistles. Cultivate a child's heart for good, or it will go wrong\nof itself, for it is already depraved by nature. O that we were wise\nenough to think of this, and leave no little one to become a prey to the\ndestroyer.\n\nAs it is with homes, so is it with _schools_. A gentleman who joined\nthis church some time ago had been an atheist for years, and in\nconversing with him I found that he had been educated at one of our\ngreat public schools, and to that fact he traced his infidelity. He said\nthat the boys were stowed away on Sunday in a lofty gallery at the far\nend of a church, where they could scarcely hear a word that the\nclergyman said, but simply sat imprisoned in a place where it was\ndreadfully hot in summer and cold in winter. On Sundays there were\nprayers, and prayers, and prayers, but nothing that ever touched his\nheart; until he was so sick of prayers that he vowed if he once got out\nof the school he would have done with religion. This is a sad result,\nbut a frequent one. You Sunday-school teachers can make your classes so\ntiresome to the children that they will hate Sunday. You can fritter\naway the time in school without bringing the lads and lasses to Christ,\nand so you may do more hurt than good. I have known Christian fathers\nwho by their severity and want of tenderness have sown their family\nfield with the thorns and thistles of hatred to religion instead of\nscattering the good seed of love to it. O that we may so live among our\nchildren that they may not only love us, but love our Father who is in\nheaven. May fathers and mothers set such an example of cheerful piety\nthat sons and daughters shall say, \"Let us tread in our father's\nfootsteps, for he was a happy and a holy man. Let us follow our mother's\nways, for she was sweetness itself.\" If piety does not rule in your\nhouse, when we pass by your home we shall see disorder, disobedience,\npride of dress, folly, and the beginnings of vice. Let not your home be\na sluggard's field, or you will have to rue it in years to come.\n\nLet every deacon, every class-leader, and also every minister enquire\ndiligently into the state of the field he has to cultivate. You see,\nbrothers and sisters, if you and I are set over any department of our\nLord's work, and we are not diligent in it, we shall be like barren\ntrees planted in an orchard, which are a loss altogether, because they\noccupy the places of other trees which might have brought forth fruit\nunto their owners. We shall cumber the ground, and do damage to our\nLord, unless we render him actual service. Will you think of this? If\nyou could be put down as a mere cipher in the accounts of Christ, that\nwould be very sad; but, brother, it cannot be so, you will cause a\ndeficit unless you create a gain. Oh that through the grace of God we\nmay be profitable to our Lord and Master! Who among us can look upon his\nlife-work without some sorrow? If anything has been done aright we\nascribe it all to the grace of God; but how much there is to weep over!\nHow much that we would wish to amend! Let us not spend time in idle\nregrets, but pray for the Spirit of God, that in the future we may not\nbe void of understanding, but may know what we ought to do, and where\nthe strength must come from with which to do it, and then give ourselves\nup to the doing of it.\n\nI beg you once more to look at the great field of _the world_. Do you\nsee how it is overgrown with thorns and nettles? If an angel could take\na survey of the whole race, what tears he would shed, if angels could\nweep! What a tangled mass of weeds the whole earth is! Yonder the field\nis scarlet with the poppy of popery, and over the hedge it is yellow\nwith the wild mustard of Mahometanism. Vast regions are smothered with\nthe thistles of infidelity and idolatry. The world is full of cruelty,\noppression, drunkenness, rebellion, uncleanness, misery. What the moon\nsees! What God's sun sees! What scenes of horror! How far is all this to\nbe attributed to a neglectful church? Nearly nineteen hundred years are\ngone, and the sluggard's vineyard is but little improved! England has\nbeen touched with the spade, but I cannot say that it has been\nthoroughly weeded or ploughed yet. Across the ocean another field\nequally favored knows well the ploughman, and yet the weeds are rank.\nHere and there a little good work has been done, but the vast mass of\nthe world still lies a moorland never broken up, a waste, a howling\nwilderness. What has the church been doing all these years? She ceased\nafter a few centuries to be a missionary church, and from that hour she\nalmost ceased to be a living church. Whenever a church does not labor\nfor the reclaiming of the desert, it becomes itself a waste. You shall\nnot find on the roll of history that for a length of time any Christian\ncommunity has flourished after it has become negligent of the outside\nworld. I believe that if we are put into the Master's vineyard, and will\nnot take away the weeds, neither shall the vine flourish, nor shall the\ncorn yield its increase. However, instead of asking what the church has\nbeen doing for this nineteen hundred years, let us ask ourselves, What\nare we going to do now? Are the missions of the churches of Great\nBritain always to be such poor, feeble things as they are? Are the best\nof our Christian young men always going to stay at home? We go on\nploughing the home field a hundred times over, while millions of acres\nabroad are left to the thorn and nettle. Shall it always be so? God\nsend us more spiritual life, and wake us up from our sluggishness, or\nelse when the holy watcher gives in his report, he will say, \"I went by\nthe field of the sluggish church, and it was all grown over with thorns\nand nettles, and the stone wall was broken down, so that one could\nscarcely tell which was the church and which was the world, yet still\nshe slept, and slept, and slept, and nothing could waken her.\"\n\nI conclude by remarking that THERE MUST BE SOME LESSON IN ALL THIS. I\ncannot teach it as I would, but I want to learn it myself. I will speak\nit as though I were talking to myself.\n\nThe first lesson is, that _unaided nature always will produce thorns and\nnettles, and nothing else_. My soul, if it were not for grace, this is\nall thou wouldst have produced. Beloved, are you producing anything\nelse? Then it is not nature, but the grace of God that makes you produce\nit. Those lips that now most charmingly sing the praises of God would\nhave been delighted with an idle ballad if the grace of God had not\nsanctified them. Your heart, that now cleaves to Christ, would have\ncontinued to cling to your idols--you know what they were--if it had not\nbeen for grace divine. And why should grace have visited you or me--why?\nEcho answers, Why? What answer can we give? \"'Tis even so, Father, for\nso it seemed good in thy sight.\" Let the recollection of what grace has\ndone move us to manifest the result of that grace in our lives. Come,\nbrothers and sisters, inasmuch as we were aforetime rich enough in the\nsoil of our nature to produce so much of nettle and thistle--and God\nonly knows how much we did produce--let us now pray that our lives may\nyield as much of good corn for the great Husbandman. Will you serve\nChrist less than you served your lusts? Will you make less sacrifice\nfor Christ than you did for your sins? Some of you were whole-hearted\nenough when in the service of the evil one, will you be half-hearted in\nthe service of God? Shall the Holy Spirit produce less fruit in you than\nthat which you yielded under the spirit of evil?\n\nGod grant that we may not be left to prove what nature will produce if\nleft to itself.\n\nWe see here, next, _the little value of natural good intentions_; for\nthis man, who left his field and vineyard to be overgrown, always meant\nto work hard one of these fine days. To do him justice, we must admit\nthat he did not mean to sleep much longer, for he said--\"Yet a little\nsleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep.\" Only a\nlittle doze, and then he would tuck up his sleeves and show his muscle.\nProbably the worst people in the world are those who have the best\nintentions, but never carry them out. In that way Satan lulls many to\nsleep. They hear an earnest sermon; but they do not arise and go to\ntheir Father; they only get as far as saying, \"Yes, yes, the far country\nis not a fit place for me; I will not stay here long. I mean to go home\nby-and-by.\" They said that forty years ago, but nothing came of it. When\nthey were quite youths they had serious impressions, they were almost\npersuaded to be Christians, and yet they are not Christians even now.\nThey have been slumbering forty years! Surely that is a liberal share of\nsleep! They never intended to dream so long, and now they do not mean to\nlie in bed much longer. They will not turn to Christ at once, but they\nare resolved to do so one day. When are you going to do it, friend?\n\"Before I die.\" Going to put it off to the last hour or two, are you?\nAnd so, when unconscious, and drugged to relieve pain, you will begin\nto think of your soul? Is this wise? Surely you are void of\nunderstanding. Perhaps you will die in an hour. Did you not hear the\nother day of the alderman who died in his carriage? Little must he have\ndreamed of that. How would it have fared with you had you also been\nsmitten while riding at your ease? Have you not heard of persons who\nfall dead at their work? What is to hinder your dying with a spade in\nyour hand? I am often startled when I am told in the week that one whom\nI saw on Sunday is dead--gone from the shop to the judgment-seat. It is\nnot a very long time ago since one went out at the doorway of the\nTabernacle, and fell dead on the threshold. We have had deaths in the\nhouse of God, unexpected deaths; and sometimes people are hurried away\nunprepared who never meant to have died unconverted, who always had from\ntheir youth up some kind of desire to be ready, only still they wanted a\nlittle more sleep. Oh, my hearers, take heed of little delays, and short\nputtings-off. You have wasted time enough already, come to the point at\nonce before the clock strikes again. May God the Holy Spirit bring you\nto decision.\n\n\"Surely you do not object to my having a little more sleep?\" says the\nsluggard. \"You have waked me so soon. I only ask another little nap.\"\n\"My dear man, it is far into the morning.\" He answers, \"It is rather\nlate, I know; but it will not be much later if I take just another\ndoze.\" You wake him again, and tell him it is noon. He says, \"It is the\nhottest part of the day: I daresay if I had been up I should have gone\nto the sofa and taken a little rest from the hot sun.\" You knock at his\ndoor when it is almost evening, and then he cries, \"It is of no use to\nget up now, for the day is almost over.\" You remind him of his overgrown\nfield and weedy vineyard, and he answers, \"Yes, I must get up, I know.\"\nHe shakes himself and says, \"I do not think it will matter much if I\nwait till the clock strikes. I will rest another minute or two.\" He is\nglued to his bed, dead while he liveth, buried in his laziness. If he\ncould sleep forever he would, but he cannot, for the judgment-day will\nrouse him. It is written, \"And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in\ntorment.\" God grant that you spiritual sluggards may wake before that;\nbut you will not unless you bestir yourselves betimes, for \"now is the\naccepted time\"; and it may be now or never. To-morrow is only to be\nfound in the calendar of fools; to-day is the time of the wise man, the\nchosen season of our gracious God. Oh that the Holy Spirit may lead you\nto seize the present hour, that you may at once give yourselves to the\nLord by faith in Christ Jesus, and then from his vineyard--\n\n                  \"Quick uproot\n  The noisome weeds, that without profit suck\n  The soil's fertility from wholesome plants.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE BROKEN FENCE.\n\n\"I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man\nvoid of understanding; and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and\nnettles had covered the face thereof, and _the stone wall thereof was\nbroken down_. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it and\nreceived instruction.\"--PROVERBS 24:30-32.\n\n\nTHIS slothful man did no hurt to his fellow-men: he was not a thief, nor\na ruffian, nor a meddler in anybody else's business. He did not trouble\nhimself about other men's concerns, for he did not even attend to his\nown--it required too much exertion. He was not grossly vicious; he had\nnot energy enough to care for that. He was one who liked to take things\neasily. He always let well alone, and, for the matter of that, he let\nill alone, too, as the nettles and the thistles in his garden plainly\nproved. What was the use of disturbing himself? It would be all the same\na hundred years hence; and so he took things just as they came. He was\nnot a bad man, so some said of him; and yet, perhaps, it will be found\nat last that there is no worse man in the world than the man who is not\ngood, for in some respects he is not good enough to be bad; he has not\nenough force of character about him to serve either God or Baal. He\nsimply serves himself, worshipping his own ease and adoring his own\ncomfort. Yet he always meant to be right. Dear me! he was not going to\nsleep much longer, he would only have forty winks more, and then he\nwould be at his work, and show you what he could do. One of these days\nhe meant to be thoroughly in earnest, and make up for lost time. The\ntime never actually came for him to begin, but it was always coming. He\nalways meant to repent, but he went on in his sin. He meant to believe,\nbut he died an unbeliever. He meant to be a Christian, but he lived\nwithout Christ. He halted between two opinions because he could not\ntrouble himself to make up his mind; and so he perished of delay.\n\nThis picture of the slothful man and his garden and field overgrown with\nnettles and weeds represents many a man who has professed to be a\nChristian, but who has become slothful in the things of God. Spiritual\nlife has withered in him. He has backslidden; he has come down from the\ncondition of healthy spiritual energy into one of listlessness, and\nindifference to the things of God; and while things have gone wrong\nwithin his heart, and all sorts of mischiefs have come into him and\ngrown up and seeded themselves in him, mischief is also taking place\nexternally in his daily conduct. The stone wall which guarded his\ncharacter is broken down, and he lies open to all evil. Upon this point\nwe will now meditate. \"The stone wall thereof was broken down.\"\n\nCome, then, let us take a walk with Solomon, and stand with him and\nconsider and learn instruction while we _look at this broken-down\nfence_. When we have examined it, let us _consider the consequences of\nbroken-down walls_; and then, in the last place, let us try to _rouse up\nthis sluggard that his wall may yet be repaired_. If this slothful\nperson should be one of ourselves, may God's infinite mercy rouse us up\nbefore this ruined wall has let in a herd of prowling vices.\n\nI. First let us take a LOOK AT THIS BROKEN FENCE.\n\nYou will see that in the beginning it was a very good fence, for it was\na stone wall. Fields are often surrounded with wooden palings which soon\ndecay, or with hedges which may very easily have gaps made in them; but\nthis was a stone wall. Such walls are very usual in the East, and are\nalso common in some of our own counties where stone is plentiful. It was\na substantial protection to begin with, and well shut in the pretty\nlittle estate which had fallen into such bad hands. The man had a field\nfor agricultural purposes, and another strip of land for a vineyard or a\ngarden. It was fertile soil, for it produced thorns and nettles in\nabundance, and where these flourish better things can be produced; yet\nthe idler took no care of his property, but allowed the wall to get into\nbad repair, and in many places to be quite broken down.\n\nLet me mention some of the stone walls that men permit to be broken down\nwhen they backslide.\n\nIn many cases _sound principles were instilled in youth_, but these are\nforgotten. What a blessing is Christian education! Our parents, both by\npersuasion and example, taught many of us the things that are pure and\nhonest, and of good repute. We saw in their lives how to live. They also\nopened the word of God before us, and they taught us the ways of right\nboth toward God and toward men. They prayed for us, and they prayed with\nus, till the things of God were placed round about us and shut us in as\nwith a stone wall. We have never been able to get rid of our early\nimpressions. Even in times of wandering, before we knew the Lord\nsavingly, these things had a healthy power over us; we were checked when\nwe would have done evil, we were assisted when we were struggling\ntoward Christ. It is very sad when people permit these first principles\nto be shaken, and to be removed like stones which fall from a boundary\nwall. Young persons begin at first to talk lightly of the old-fashioned\nways of their parents. By-and-by it is not merely the old-fashionedness\nof the ways, but the ways themselves that they despise. They seek other\ncompany, and from that other company they learn nothing but evil. They\nseek pleasure in places which it horrifies their parents to think of.\nThis leads to worse, and if they do not bring their fathers' gray hairs\nwith sorrow to the grave it is no virtue of theirs. I have known young\nmen, who really were Christians, sadly backslide through being induced\nto modify, conceal, or alter those holy principles in which they were\ntrained from their mother's knee. It is a great calamity when\nprofessedly converted men become unfixed, unstable, and carried about\nwith every wind of doctrine. It shows great faultiness of mind, and\nunsoundness of heart, when we can trifle with those grave and solemn\ntruths which have been sanctified by a mother's tears and by a father's\nearnest life. \"I am thy servant,\" said David, \"and the son of thy\nhandmaid\": he felt it to be a high honor, and, at the same time, a\nsacred bond which bound him to God, that he was the son of one who could\nbe called God's handmaid. Take care, you who have had Christian\ntraining, that you do not trifle with it. \"My son, keep thy father's\ncommandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: bind them\ncontinually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.\"\n\nProtection to character is also found in the fact that _solid doctrines\nhave been learned_. This is a fine stone wall. Many among us have been\ntaught the gospel of the grace of God, and they have learned it well,\nso that they are able to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered\nto the saints. Happy are they who have a religion that is grounded upon\na clear knowledge of eternal verities. A religion which is all\nexcitement, and has little instruction in it, may serve for transient\nuse; but for permanent life-purposes there must be a knowledge of those\ngreat doctrines which are fundamental to the gospel system. I tremble\nwhen I hear of a man's giving up, one by one, the vital principles of\nthe gospel and boasting of his liberality. I hear him say, \"These are my\nviews, but others have a right to their views also.\" That is a very\nproper expression in reference to mere \"views,\" but we may not thus\nspeak of _truth_ itself as revealed by God: that is one and unalterable,\nand all are bound to receive it. It is not your view of truth, for that\nis a dim thing; but the very truth itself which will save you if your\nfaith embraces it. I will readily yield my way of stating a doctrine,\nbut not the doctrine itself. One man may put it in this way, and one in\nanother; but the truth itself must never be given up. The spirit of the\nBroad School robs us of everything like certainty. I should like to ask\nsome great men of that order whether they believe that anything is\ntaught in the Scriptures which it would be worth while for a person to\ndie for, and whether the martyrs were not great fools for laying down\ntheir lives for mere opinions which might be right or might be wrong.\nThis Broad-churchism is a breaking down of stone walls, and it will let\nin the devil and all his crew, and do infinite harm to the church of\nGod, if it be not stopped. A loose state of belief does great damage to\nany man's mind.\n\nWe are not bigots, but we should be none the worse if we so lived that\nmen called us so. I met a man the other day who was accused of bigotry,\nand I said, \"Give me your hand, old fellow. I like to meet with bigots\nnow and then, for the fine old creatures are getting scarce, and the\nstuff they are made of is so good that if there were more of it we might\nsee a few men among us again and fewer mollusks.\" Lately we have seen\nfew men with backbone; the most have been of the jelly-fish order. I\nhave lived in times in which I should have said, \"Be liberal, and shake\noff all narrowness\": but now I am obliged to alter my tone and cry, \"Be\nsteadfast in the truth.\" The faith once delivered to the saints is now\nall the more attractive to me because it is called narrow, for I am\nweary of that breadth which comes of broken hedges. There are fixed\npoints of truth, and definite certainties of creed, and woe to you if\nyou allow these stone walls to crumble down. I fear me that the slothful\nare a numerous band, and that ages to come may have to deplore the\nlaxity which has been applauded by this negligent generation.\n\nAnother fence which is too often neglected is that of _godly habits\nwhich had been formed_: the sluggard allows this wall to be broken down.\nI will mention some valuable guards of life and character. One is the\nhabit of _secret prayer_. Private prayer should be regularly offered, at\nleast in the morning and in the evening. We cannot do without set\nseasons for drawing near to God. To look into the face of man without\nhaving first seen the face of God is very dangerous: to go out into the\nworld without locking up the heart and giving God the key is to leave it\nopen to all sorts of spiritual vagrants. At night, again, to go to your\nrest as the swine roll into their sty, without thanking God for the\nmercies of the day, is shameful. The evening sacrifice should be\ndevoutly offered as surely as we have enjoyed the evening fireside: we\nshould thus put ourselves under the wings of the Preserver of men. It\nmay be said, \"We can pray at all times.\" I know we can: but I fear that\nthose who do not pray at stated hours seldom pray at all. Those who pray\nin season are the most likely persons to pray at all seasons. Spiritual\nlife does not care for a cast-iron regulation, but since life casts\nitself into some mould or other, I would have you careful of its\nexternal habit as well as its internal power. Never allow great gaps in\nthe wall of your habitual private prayer.\n\nI go a step farther; I believe that there is a great guardian power\nabout _family prayer_, and I feel greatly distressed because I know that\nvery many Christian families neglect it. Romanism, at one time, could do\nnothing in England, because it could offer nothing but the shadow of\nwhat Christian men had already in substance. \"Do you hear that bell\ntinkling in the morning?\" \"What is that for?\" \"To go to church to pray.\"\n\"Indeed,\" said the Puritan, \"I have no need to go there to pray. I have\nhad my children together, and we have read a passage of Scripture, and\nprayed, and sang the praises of God, and we have a church in our house.\"\nAh, there goes that bell again in the evening. What is that for? Why, it\nis the vesper bell. The good man answered that he had no need to trudge\na mile or two for that, for his holy vespers had been said and sung\naround his own table, of which the big Bible was the chief ornament.\nThey told him that there could be no service without a priest, but he\nreplied that every godly man should be a priest in his own house. Thus\nhave the saints defied the overtures of priestcraft, and kept the faith\nfrom generation to generation. Household devotion and the pulpit are,\nunder God, the stone walls of Protestantism, and my prayer is that these\nmay not be broken down.\n\nAnother fence to protect piety is found in _week-night services_. I\nnotice that when people forsake week-night meetings the power of their\nreligion evaporates. I do not speak of those lawfully detained to watch\nthe sick, and attend to farm-work and other business, or as domestic\nservants and the like; there are exceptions to all rules: but I mean\nthose who could attend if they had a mind to do so. When people say, \"It\nis quite enough for me to be wearied with the sermons of the Sunday; I\ndo not want to go out to prayer-meetings, and lectures, and so\nforth,\"--then it is clear that they have no appetite for the word; and\nsurely this is a bad sign. If you have a bit of wall built to protect\nthe Sunday and then six times the distance left without a fence, I\nbelieve that Satan's cattle will get in and do no end of mischief.\n\nTake care, also, of the stone wall of _Bible reading_, and of speaking\noften one to another concerning the things of God. Associate with the\ngodly, and commune with God, and you will thus, by the blessing of God's\nSpirit, keep up a good fence against temptations, which otherwise will\nget into the fields of your soul, and devour all goodly fruits.\n\nMany have found much protection for the field of daily life in the stone\nwall of _a public profession of faith_. I am speaking to you who are\nreal believers, and I know that you have often found it a great\nsafeguard to be known and recognized as a follower of Jesus. I have\nnever regretted--and I never shall regret--the day on which I walked to\nthe little river Lark, in Cambridgeshire, and was there buried with\nChrist in baptism. In this I acted contrary to the opinions of all my\nfriends whom I respected and esteemed, but as I had read the Greek\nTestament for myself, I felt bound to be immersed upon the profession of\nmy faith, and I was so. By that act I said to the world, \"I am dead to\nyou, and buried to you in Christ, and I hope henceforth to live in\nnewness of life.\" That day, by God's grace, I imitated the tactics of\nthe general who meant to fight the enemy till he conquered, and\ntherefore he burned his boats that there might be no way of retreat. I\nbelieve that a solemn confession of Christ before men is as a thorn\nhedge to keep one within bounds, and to keep off those who hope to draw\nyou aside. Of course it is nothing but a hedge, and it is of no use to\nfence in a field of weeds, but when wheat is growing a hedge is of great\nconsequence. You who imagine that you can be the Lord's, and yet lie\nopen like a common, are under a great error; you ought to be\ndistinguished from the world, and obey the voice which saith, \"Come ye\nout from among them, be ye separate.\" The promise of salvation is to the\nman who with his heart believeth and with his mouth confesseth. Say\nright boldly, \"Let others do as they will; as for me and my house, we\nwill serve the Lord.\" By this act you come out into the king's highway,\nand put yourself under the protection of the Lord of pilgrims, and he\nwill take care of you. Oftentimes, when otherwise you might have\nhesitated, you will say, \"The vows of the Lord are upon me: how can I\ndraw back?\" I pray you, then, set up the stone wall, and keep it up, and\nif it has at any corner been tumbled over, set it up again, and let it\nbe seen by your conduct and conversation that you are a follower of\nJesus, and are not ashamed to have it known.\n\nKeep to your religious principles like men, and do not turn aside for\nthe sake of gain, or respectability. Do not let wealth break down your\nwall, for I have known some make a great gap to let their carriage go\nthrough, and to let in wealthy worldlings for the sake of their society.\nThose who forsake their principles to please men will in the end be\nlightly esteemed, but he who is faithful shall have the honor which\ncometh from God. Look well to this hedge of steadfast adherence to the\nfaith, and you shall find a great blessing in it.\n\nThere is yet another stone wall which I will mention, namely, _firmness\nof character_. Our holy faith teaches a man to be decided in the cause\nof Christ, and to be resolute in getting rid of evil habits. \"If thine\neye offend thee\"--wear a shade? No; \"pluck it out.\" \"If thine arm offend\nthee\"--hang it in a sling? No; \"cut it off and cast it from thee.\" True\nreligion is very thorough in what it recommends. It says to us, \"Touch\nnot the unclean thing.\" But many persons are so idle in the ways of God\nthat they have no mind of their own: evil companions tempt them, and\nthey cannot say, \"No.\" They need a stone wall made up of noes. Here are\nthe stones \"no, _no_, NO.\" Dare to be singular. Resolve to keep close to\nChrist. Make a stern determination to permit nothing in your life,\nhowever gainful or pleasurable, if it would dishonor the name of Jesus.\nBe dogmatically true, obstinately holy, immovably honest, desperately\nkind, fixedly upright. If God's grace sets up this hedge around you,\neven Satan will feel that he cannot get in, and will complain to God\n\"hast thou not set a hedge about him?\"\n\n\nI have kept you long enough looking over the wall, let me invite you in,\nand for a few minutes let us CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES OF A BROKEN-DOWN\nFENCE.\n\nTo make short work of it, first, _the boundary has gone_. Those lines of\nseparation which were kept up by the good principles which were\ninstilled in him by religious habits, by a bold profession and by a firm\nresolve, have vanished, and now the question is, \"Is he a Christian, or\nis he not?\" The fence is so far gone that he does not know which is his\nLord's property and which remains an open common: in fact, he does not\nknow whether he himself is included in the Royal domain or left to be\nmere waste of the world's manor. This is for want of keeping up the\nfences. If that man had lived near to God, if he had walked in his\nintegrity, if the Spirit of God had richly rested on him in all holy\nliving and waiting upon God, he would have known where the boundary was,\nand he would have seen whether his land lay in the parish of All-saints,\nor in the region called No-man's-land, or in the district where Satan is\nthe lord of the manor. I heard of a dear old saint the other day who,\nwhen she was near to death, was attacked by Satan, and, waving her\nfinger at the enemy, in her gentle way, she routed him by saying,\n\"Chosen! chosen! chosen!\" She knew that she was chosen, and she\nremembered the text, \"The Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee.\"\nWhen the wall stands in its integrity all round the field, we can resist\nthe devil by bidding him leave the Lord's property alone. \"Begone! Look\nsomewhere else. I belong to Christ, not to you.\" To do this you must\nmend the hedges well so that there shall be a clear boundary line, and\nyou can say, \"Trespassers, beware!\" Do not yield an inch to the enemy,\nbut make the wall all the higher, the more he seeks to enter. O that\nthis adversary may never find a gap to enter by!\n\nNext, when the wall has fallen, _the protection is gone_. When a man's\nheart has its wall broken all his thoughts will go astray, and wander\nupon the mountains of vanity. Like sheep, thoughts need careful folding,\nor they will be off in no time. \"I hate vain thoughts,\" said David, but\nslothful men are sure to have plenty of them, for there is no keeping\nyour thoughts out of vanity unless you stop at every gap and shut every\ngate. Holy thoughts, comfortable meditations, devout longings, and\ngracious communings will be off and gone if we sluggishly allow the\nstone wall to get out of repair.\n\nNor is this all, for as good things go out so bad things come in. When\nthe wall is gone every passer-by sees, as it were, an invitation to\nenter. You have set before him an open door, and in he comes. Are there\nfruits? He plucks them, of course. He walks about as it were a public\nplace, and he pries everywhere. Is there any secret corner of your heart\nwhich you will keep for Jesus? Satan or the world will walk in; and do\nyou wonder? Every passing goat, or roaming ox, or stray ass visits the\ngrowing crops and spoils more than he eats, and who can blame the\ncreature when the gaps are so wide? All manner of evil lust and desires,\nand imaginations prey upon an unfenced soul. It is of no use for you to\nsay, \"Lead us not into temptation.\" God will hear your prayer, and he\nwill not lead you there; but you are leading yourself into it, you are\ntempting the devil to tempt you. If you leave yourself open to evil\ninfluences the Spirit of God will be grieved, and he may leave you to\nkeep the result of your folly. What think you, friend? Had you not\nbetter attend to your fences at once?\n\nAnd then there is another evil, for _the land itself will go away_.\n\"No,\" say you; \"how can that be?\" If a stone wall is broken down round a\nfarm in England a man does not thereby lose his land, but in many parts\nof Palestine the land is all ups and downs on the sides of the hills,\nand every bit of ground is terraced and kept up by walls. When the walls\nfall the soil slips over, terrace upon terrace, and the vines and trees\ngo down with it; then the rain comes and washes the soil away, and\nnothing is left but barren crags which would starve a lark. In the same\nmanner a man may so neglect himself, and so neglect the things of God,\nand become so careless and indifferent about doctrine, and about holy\nliving, that his power to do good ceases, and his mind, his heart, and\nhis energy seem to be gone. The prophet said, \"Ephraim is a silly dove,\nwithout heart:\" there are flocks of such silly doves. The man who\ntrifles with religion sports with his own soul, and will soon degenerate\ninto so much of a trifler that he will be averse to solemn thought, and\nincapable of real usefulness. I charge you, dear friends, to be sternly\ntrue to yourselves and to your God. Stand to your principles in this\nevil and wicked day. Now, when everything seems to be turned into marsh\nand mire and mud, and religious thought appears to be silently sliding\nand slipping along, descending like a stream of slime into the Dead Sea\nof Unbelief--get solid walls built around your life, around your faith,\nand around your character. Stand fast, and having done all, still\nstand. May God the Holy Ghost cause you to be rooted and grounded, built\nup and established, fixed and confirmed, never \"casting away your\nconfidence, which hath great recompense of reward.\"\n\n\nLastly, I want, if I can, TO WAKE UP THE SLUGGARD. I would like to throw\na handful of gravel up to his window. It is time to get up, for the sun\nhas drunk up all the dew. He craves \"a little more sleep.\" My dear\nfellow, if you take a little more sleep, you will never wake at all till\nyou lift up your eyes in another world. Wake at once. Leap from your bed\nbefore you are smothered in it. Wake up! Do you not see where you are?\nYou have let things alone till your heart is covered with sins like\nweeds. You have neglected God and Christ till you have grown worldly,\nsinful, careless, indifferent, ungodly. I mean some of you who were once\nnamed with the sacred name. You have become like worldlings, and are\nalmost as far from being what you ought to be as others who make no\nprofession at all. Look at yourselves and see what has come of your\nneglected walls. Then look at some of your fellow-Christians, and mark\nhow diligent they are. Look at many among them who are poor and\nilliterate, and yet they are doing far more than you for the Lord Jesus.\nIn spite of your talents and opportunities, you are an unprofitable\nservant, letting all things run to waste. Is it not time that you\nbestirred yourself? Look, again, at others who, like yourself, went to\nsleep, meaning to wake in a little while. What has become of them? Alas,\nfor those who have fallen into gross sin, and dishonored their\ncharacter, and who have been put away from the church of God; yet they\nonly went a little farther than you have done. Your state of heart is\nmuch the same as theirs, and if you should be tempted as they have been,\nyou will probably make shipwreck as they have done. Oh, see to it, you\nthat slumber, for an idle professor is ready for anything. A slothful\nprofessor's heart is tinder for the devil's tinderbox; does your heart\nthus invite the sparks of temptation?\n\nRemember, lastly, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Shall he come and\nfind you sleeping? Remember the judgment. What will you say to excuse\nyourself, for opportunities lost, time wasted, and talents wrapped up in\na napkin, when the Lord shall come?\n\nAs for you, my unconverted friend, if you go dreaming through this\nworld, without any sort of trouble, and never look to the state of your\nheart at all, you will be a lost man beyond all question. The slothful\ncan have no hope, for \"if the righteous scarcely are saved,\" who strive\nto serve their Lord, where will those appear who sleep on in defiance of\nthe calls of God? Salvation is wholly and alone of grace, as you well\nknow; but grace never works in men's minds toward slumbering and\nindifference; it tends toward energy, activity, fervor, importunity,\nself-sacrifice. God grant us the indwelling of his Holy Spirit, that all\nthings may be set in order, sins cut up by the roots within the heart,\nand the whole man protected by sanctifying grace from the wasters which\nlurk around, hoping to enter where the wall is low. O Lord, remember us\nin mercy, fence us about by thy power, and keep us from the sloth which\nwould expose us to evil, for Jesus' sake. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFROST AND THAW.\n\n\"He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He\ncasteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He\nsendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and\nthe waters flow.\"--PSALM 147:16-18.\n\n\nLOOKING out of our window one morning we saw the earth robed in a white\nmantle; for in a few short hours the earth had been covered to a\nconsiderable depth with snow. We looked out again in a few hours and saw\nthe fields as green as ever, and the ploughed fields as bare as if no\nsingle flake had fallen. It is no uncommon thing for a heavy fall of\nsnow to be followed by a rapid thaw.\n\nThese interesting changes are wrought by God, not only with a purpose\ntoward the outward world, but with some design toward the spiritual\nrealm. God is always a teacher. In every action that he performs he is\ninstructing his own children, and opening up to them the road to inner\nmysteries. Happy are those who find food for their heaven-born spirits,\nas well as for their mental powers, in the works of the Lord's hand.\n\nI shall ask your attention, first, _to the operations of nature spoken\nof in the text_; and, secondly, _to those operations of grace of which\nthey are the most fitting symbols_.\n\nI. Consider, first, THE OPERATIONS OF NATURE. We shall not think a few\nminutes wasted if we call your attention to the hand of God in frost and\nthaw, even upon natural grounds.\n\n1. Observe the _directness_ of the Lord's work. I rejoice, as I read\nthese words, to find how present our God is in the world. It is not\nwritten, \"the laws of nature produce snow,\" but \"HE _giveth snow_,\" as\nif every flake came directly from the palm of his hand. We are not told\nthat certain natural regulations form moisture into hoarfrost; no, but\nas Moses took ashes of the furnace and scattered them upon Egypt, so it\nis said of the Lord \"HE _scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes_.\" It is\nnot said that the Eternal has set the world going and by the operation\nof its machinery ice is produced. Oh, no, but every single granule of\nice descending in the hail is from God; \"HE _casteth forth his ice like\nmorsels_.\" Even as the slinger distinctly sends the stone out of his\nsling, so the path of every hailstone is marked by the Divine power. The\nice is called, you observe, _his_ ice; and in the next sentence we read\nof _his_ cold. These words make nature strangely magnificent. When we\nlook upon every hailstone as God's hail, and upon every fragment of ice\nas his ice, how precious the watery diamonds become! When we feel the\ncold nipping our limbs and penetrating through every garment, it\nconsoles us to remember that it is _his_ cold. When the thaw comes, see\nhow the text speaks of it:--\"_he sendeth out his word_.\" He does not\nleave it to certain forces of nature, but like a king, \"_He sendeth out\nhis word and melteth them: he causeth_ HIS _wind to blow_.\" He has a\nspecial property in every wind; whether it comes from the north to\nfreeze, or from the south to melt, it is _his_ wind. Behold how in God's\ntemple everything speaketh of his glory. Learn to see the Lord in all\nscenes of the visible universe, for truly he worketh all things.\n\nThis thought of the directness of the Divine operations must be carried\ninto providence. It will greatly comfort you if you can see God's hand\nin your losses and crosses; surely you will not murmur against the\ndirect agency of your God. This will put an extraordinary sweetness into\ndaily mercies, and make the comforts of life more comfortable still,\nbecause they are from a Father's hand. If your table be scantily\nfurnished it shall suffice for your contented heart, when you know that\nyour Father spread it for you in wisdom and love. This shall bless your\nbread and your water; this shall make the bare walls of an ill-furnished\nroom as resplendent as a palace, and turn a hard bed into a couch of\ndown;--my Father doth it all. We see his smile of love even when others\nsee nothing but the black hand of Death smiting our best beloved. We see\na Father's hand when the pestilence lays our cattle dead upon the plain.\nWe see God at work in mercy when we ourselves are stretched upon the bed\nof languishing. It is ever our Father's act and deed. Do not let us get\nbeyond this; but rather let us enlarge our view of this truth, and\nremember that this is true of the little as well as of the great. Let\nthe lines of a true poet strike you:--\n\n  \"If pestilence stalk through the land, ye say the Lord hath done it--\n\n   Hath he not done it when an aphis creepeth upon the rosebud?\n\n   If an avalanche tumbles from its Alp, ye tremble at the will of\n   Providence--\n\n   Is not that will as much concerned when the sere leaves fall from\n   the poplar?\"\n\nLet your hearts sing of everything, Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord is there.\n\n2. Next, I beg you to observe, with thanksgiving, the _ease_ of Divine\nworking. These verses read as if the making of frost and snow were the\nsimplest matter in all the world. A man puts his hand into a wool-pack\nand throws out the wool; God giveth snow as easily as that: \"He giveth\nsnow like wool.\" A man takes up a handful of ashes, and throws them into\nthe air, so that they fall around: \"He scattereth the hoarfrost like\nashes.\" Rime and snow are marvels of nature: those who have observed the\nextraordinary beauty of the ice-crystals have been enraptured, and yet\nthey are easily formed by the Lord. \"He casteth forth his ice like\nmorsels\"--just as easily as we cast crumbs of bread outside the window\nto the robins during wintry days. When the rivers are hard frozen, and\nthe earth is held in iron chains, then the melting of the whole--how is\nthat done? Not by kindling innumerable fires, nor by sending electric\nshocks from huge batteries through the interior of the earth--no; \"He\nsendeth forth his word, and melteth them; he causeth his wind to blow,\nand the waters flow.\" The whole matter is accomplished with a word and a\nbreath. If you and I had any great thing to do, what puffing and\npanting, what straining and tugging there would be: even the great\nengineers, who perform marvels by machinery, make much noise and stir\nabout it. It is not so with the Almighty One. Our globe spins round in\nfour-and-twenty hours, and yet it does not make so much noise as a\nhumming-top; and yonder ponderous worlds rolling in space track their\nway in silence. If I enter a factory I hear a deafening din, or if I\nstand near the village mill, turned by water dropping over a wheel,\nthere is a never-ceasing click-clack, or an undying hum; but God's great\nwheels revolve without noise or friction: divine machinery works\nsmoothly. This ease is seen in providence as well as in nature. Your\nheavenly Father is as able to deliver you as he is to melt the snow, and\nhe will deliver you in as simple a manner if you rest upon him. He\nopeneth his hand, and supplies the want of every living thing as readily\nas he works in nature. Mark the ease of God's working--he does but open\nhis hand.\n\n3. Notice in the next place the _variety_ of the Divine operations in\nnature. When the Lord is at work with frost as his tool he creates snow,\na wonderful production, every crystal being a marvel of art; but then he\nis not content with snow--from the same water he makes another form of\nbeauty which we call hoarfrost, and yet a third lustrous sparkling\nsubstance, namely glittering ice; and all these by the one agency of\ncold. What a marvellous variety the educated eye can detect in the\nseveral forms of frozen water! The same God who solidified the flood\nwith cold soon melts it with warmth; but even in thaw there is no\nmonotony of manner: at one time the joyous streams rush with such\nimpetuosity from their imprisonment that rivers are swollen and floods\ncover the plain; at another time by slow degrees, in scanty driblets,\nthe drops regain their freedom. The same variety is seen in every\ndepartment of nature. So in providence the Lord has a thousand forms of\nfrosty trials with which to try his people, and he has ten thousand\nbeams of mercy with which to cheer and comfort them. He can afflict you\nwith the snow trial, or with the hoarfrost trial, or with the ice trial,\nif he will; and anon he can with his word relax the bonds of adversity,\nand that in countless ways. Whereas men are tied to two or three methods\nin accomplishing their will, God is infinite in understanding and\nworketh as he wills by ways unguessed of mortal mind.\n\n4. I shall ask you also to consider the works of God in nature in their\n_swiftness_. It was thought a wonderful thing in the days of Ahasuerus\nthat letters were sent by post upon swift dromedaries. In our country we\nthought we had arrived at the age of miracles when the axles of our cars\nglowed with speed, and now that the telegraph is at work we stretch out\nour hands into infinity; but what is our rapidity compared with that of\nGod's operations? Well does the text say, \"He sendeth forth his\ncommandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.\" Forth went the\nword, \"Open the treasures of snow,\" and the flakes descended in\ninnumerable multitudes; and then it was said, \"Let them be closed,\" and\nnot another snow-feather was seen. Then spake the Master, \"Let the south\nwind blow and the snow be melted\": lo, it disappeared at the voice of\nhis word. Believer, you cannot tell how soon God may come to your help.\n\"He rode upon a cherub and did fly,\" says David; \"yea, he did fly upon\nthe wings of the wind.\" He will come from above to rescue his beloved.\nHe will rend the heavens and come down; with such speed will he descend,\nthat he will not stay to draw the curtains of heaven, but he will rend\nthem in his haste, and make the mountains to flow down at his feet, that\nhe may deliver those who cry unto him in the hour of trouble. That\nmighty God who can melt the ice so speedily can take to himself the same\neagle wings, and haste to your deliverance. Arise, O God! and let thy\nchildren be helped, and that right early.\n\n5. One other thought: consider the _goodness_ of God in all the\noperations of nature and providence. Think of that goodness negatively.\n\"Who can stand before his cold?\" You cannot help thinking of the poor in\na hard winter--only a hard heart can forget them when you see the snow\nlying deep. But suppose that snow continued to fall! What is there to\nhinder it? The same God who sends us snow for one day could do the like\nfor fifty days if he pleased. Why not? And when the frost pinches us so\nseverely, why should it not be continued month after month? We can only\nthank the goodness which does not send \"His cold\" to such an extent that\nour spirits expire. Travellers toward the North Pole tremble as they\nthink of this question, \"Who can stand before his cold?\" For cold has a\ndegree of omnipotence in it when God is pleased to let it loose. Let us\nthank God for the restraining mercy by which he holds the cold in check.\n\nNot only negatively, but positively there is mercy in the snow. Is not\nthat a suggestive metaphor? \"He giveth snow _like wool_.\" The snow is\nsaid to warm the earth; it protects those little plants which have just\nbegun to peep above the ground, and might otherwise be frost-bitten; as\nwith a garment of down the snow protects them from the extreme severity\nof cold. Hence Watts sings, in his version of the hundred and\nforty-seventh Psalm--\n\n  \"His flakes of snow like wool he sends,\n   And thus the springing corn defends.\"\n\nIt was an idea of the ancients that snow warmed the heart of the soil,\nand gave it fertility, and therefore they praised God for it. Certainly\nthere is much mercy in the frost, for pestilence might run a far longer\nrace if it were not that the frost cries to it, \"Hitherto shalt thou\ncome, but no farther.\" Noxious insects would multiply until they\ndevoured the precious fruits of the earth, if sharp nights did not\ndestroy millions of them, so that these pests are swept off the earth.\nThough man may think himself a loser by the cold, he is a great\nultimate gainer by the decree of Providence which ordains winter. The\nquaint saying of one of the old writers that \"snow is wool, and frost is\nfire, and ice is bread, and rain is drink,\" is true, though it sounds\nlike a paradox. There is no doubt that frost in breaking up the soil\npromotes fruitfulness, and so the ice becomes bread. Thus those\nagencies, which for the moment deprive our workers of their means of\nsustenance, are the means by which God supplies every living thing.\nMark, then, God's goodness as clearly in the snow and frost as in the\nthaw which clears the winter's work away.\n\nChristian, remember the goodness of God in the frost of adversity. Rest\nassured that when God is pleased to send out the biting winds of\naffliction he is in them, and he is always love, as much love in sorrow\nas when he breathes upon you the soft south wind of joy. See the\nlovingkindness of God in every work of his hand! Praise him--he maketh\nsummer and winter--let your song go round the year! Praise him--he\ngiveth day and sendeth night--thank him at all hours! Cast not away your\nconfidence, it hath great recompense of reward. As David wove the snow,\nand rain, and stormy wind into a song, even so combine your trials, your\ntribulations, your difficulties and adversities into a sweet psalm of\npraise and say perpetually--\n\n  \"Let us, with a gladsome mind,\n   Praise the Lord, for he is kind.\"\n\nThus much upon the operations of nature. It is a very tempting theme,\nbut other fields invite me.\n\nII. I would address you very earnestly and solemnly Upon THOSE\nOPERATIONS OF GRACE, OF WHICH FROST AND THAW ARE THE OUTWARD SYMBOLS.\n\nThere is a period with God's own people when he comes to deal with them\nby _the frost of the law_. The law is to the soul as the cutting north\nwind. Faith can see love in it, but the carnal eye of sense cannot. It\nis a cold, terrible, comfortless blast. To be exposed to the full force\nof the law of God would be to be frost-bitten with everlasting\ndestruction; and even to feel it for a season would congeal the marrow\nof one's bones, and make one's whole being stiff with affright. \"Who can\nstand before his cold?\" When the law comes forth thundering from its\ntreasuries, who can stand before it? The effect of law-work upon the\nsoul is to bind up the rivers of human delight. No man can rejoice when\nthe terrors of conscience are upon him. When the law of God is sweeping\nthrough the soul, music and dancing lose their joy, the bowl forgets its\npower to cheer, and the enchantments of earth are broken. The rivers of\npleasure freeze to icy despondency. The buds of hope are suddenly\nnipped, and the soul finds no comfort. It was satisfied once to grow\nrich, but rust and canker are now upon all gold and silver. Every\npromising hope is frost-bitten, and the spirit is winter-bound in\ndespair. This cold makes the sinner feel how ragged his garments are. He\ncould strut about, when it was summer weather, and think his rags right\nroyal robes, but now the cold frost finds out every rent in his garment,\nand in the hands of the terrible law he shivers like the leaves upon the\naspen. The north wind of judgment searches the man through and through.\nHe did not know what was in him, but now he sees his inward parts to be\nfilled with corruption and rottenness. These are some of the terrors of\nthe wintry breath of the law.\n\nThis frost of law and terrors only tends to harden. Nothing splits the\nrock or makes the cliff tumble like frost when succeeded by thaw, but\nfrost alone makes the earth like a mass of iron, breaking the\nploughshare which would seek to pierce it. A sinner under the influence\nof the law of God, apart from the gospel, is hardened by despair, and\ncries, \"There is no hope, and therefore after my lusts will I go.\nWhereas there is no heaven for me after this life, I will make a heaven\nout of this earth; and since hell awaits me, I will at least enjoy such\nsweets as sin may afford me here.\" This is not the fault of the law; the\nblame lies with the corrupt heart which is hardened by it; yet,\nnevertheless, such is its effect.\n\nWhen the Lord has wrought by the frost of the law, he sends _the thaw of\nthe gospel_. When the south wind blows from the land of promise,\nbringing precious remembrances of God's fatherly pity and tender\nlovingkindness, then straightway the heart begins to soften and a sense\nof blood-bought pardon speedily dissolves it. The eyes fill with tears,\nthe heart melts in tenderness, rivers of pleasure flow freely, and buds\nof hope open in the cheerful air. A heavenly spring whispers to the\nflowers that were sleeping in the cold earth; they hear its voice, and\nlift up their heads, for \"the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear\non the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of\nthe turtle is heard in our land.\" God sendeth his Word, saying, \"Thy\nwarfare is accomplished, and thy sin is pardoned;\" and when that\nblessedly cheering word comes with power to the soul, and the sweet\nbreath of the Holy Spirit acts like the warm south wind upon the heart,\nthen the waters flow, and the mind is filled with holy joy, and light,\nand liberty.\n\n  \"The legal wintry state is gone,\n   The frosts are fled, the spring comes on,\n   The sacred turtle-dove we hear\n   Proclaim the new, the joyful year.\"\n\nHaving shown you that there is a parallel between frost and thaw in\nnature and law and gospel in grace, I would utter the same thoughts\nconcerning grace which I gave you concerning nature.\n\n1. We began with the directness of God's works in nature. Now, beloved\nfriends, remark the _directness of God's works in grace_. When the heart\nis truly affected by the law of God, when sin is made to appear\nexceeding sinful, when carnal hopes are frozen to death by the law, when\nthe soul is made to feel its barrenness and utter death and ruin--this\nis the finger of God. Do not speak of the minister. It was well that he\npreached earnestly: God has used him as an instrument, but God worketh\nall. When the thaw of grace comes, I pray you discern the distinct hand\nof God in every beam of comfort which gladdens the troubled conscience,\nfor it is the Lord alone who bindeth up the broken in heart and healeth\nall their wounds. We are far too apt to stop in instrumentalities. Folly\nmakes men look to sacraments for heart-breaking or heart-healing, but\nsacraments all say, \"It is not in us.\" Some of you look to the preaching\nof the Word, and look no higher; but all true preachers will tell you,\n\"It is not in us.\" Eloquence and earnestness at their highest pitch can\nneither break nor heal a heart. This is God's work. Ay, and not God's\nsecondary work in the sense in which the philosopher admits that God is\nin the laws of nature, but God's personal and immediate work. He putteth\nforth his own hand when the conscience is humbled, and it is by his own\nright hand that the conscience is eased and cleansed.\n\nI desire that this thought may abide upon your minds, for you will not\npraise God else, nor will you be sound in doctrine. All departures from\nsound doctrine on the point of conversion arise from forgetfulness that\nit is a divine work from first to last; that the faintest desire after\nChrist is as much the work of God as the gift of his dear Son; and that\nour whole spiritual history through, from the Alpha to the Omega, the\nHoly Spirit works in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure. As\nyou have evidently seen the finger of God in casting forth his ice and\nin sending thaw, so I pray you recognize the handiwork of God in giving\nyou a sense of sin, and in bringing you to the Saviour's feet. Join\ntogether in heartily praising the wonder-working God, who doeth all\nthings according to the counsel of his will.\n\n            \"Our seeking thy face\n            Was all of thy grace,\n  Thy mercy demands, and shall have all the praise:\n            No sinner can be\n            Beforehand with thee,\n  Thy grace is preventing, almighty and free.\"\n\n2. The second thought upon nature was _the ease with which the Lord\nworked_. There was no effort or disturbance. Transfer that to the work\nof grace. How easy it is for God to send law-work into the soul! You\nstubborn sinner, _you_ cannot touch him, and even providence has failed\nto awaken him. He is dead--altogether dead in trespasses and sins. But\nif the glorious Lord will graciously send forth the wind of his Spirit,\nthat will melt him. The swearing reprobate, whose mouth is blackened\nwith profanity, if the Lord doth but look upon him and make bare his\narm of irresistible grace, shall yet praise God, and bless his name, and\nlive to his honor. Do not limit the Holy One of Israel. Persecuting Saul\nbecame loving Paul, and why should not that person be saved of whose\ncase you almost despair? Your husband may have many points which make\nhis case difficult, but no case is desperate with God. Your son may have\noffended both against heaven and against you, but God can save the most\nhardened. The sharpest frost of obstinate sin must yield to the thaw of\ngrace. Even huge icebergs of crime must melt in the Gulf-stream of\ninfinite love.\n\nPoor sinner, I cannot leave this point without a word to you. Perhaps\nthe Master has sent the frost to you, and you think it will never end.\nLet me encourage you to hope, and yet more, to pray for gracious\nvisitations. Miss Steele's verses will just suit your mournful yet\nhopeful state.\n\n  \"Stern winter throws his icy chains,\n    Encircling nature round:\n  How bleak, how comfortless the plains,\n    Late with gay verdure crown'd!\n\n  The sun withdraws his vital beams,\n    And light and warmth depart:\n  And, drooping lifeless, nature seems\n    An emblem of my heart--\n\n  My heart, where mental winter reigns\n    In night's dark mantle clad,\n  Confined in cold, inactive chains;\n    How desolate and sad!\n\n  Return, O blissful sun, and bring\n    Thy soul-reviving ray;\n  This mental winter shall be spring,\n    This darkness cheerful day.\"\n\nIt is easy for God to deliver you. He says, \"I have blotted out like a\nthick cloud thy transgressions.\" I stood the other evening looking up at\na black cloud which was covering all the heavens, and I thought it would\nsurely rain; I entered the house, and when I came out again the sky was\nall blue--the wind had driven the cloud away. So may it be with your\nsoul. It is an easy thing for the Lord to put away sin from repenting\nsinners. All obstacles which hindered our pardon were removed by Jesus\nwhen he died upon the tree, and if you believe in him you will find that\nhe has cast your sins into the depths of the sea. If thou canst believe,\nall things are possible to him that believeth.\n\n3. The next thought concerning the Lord's work in nature was the\n_variety_ of it. Frost produces a sort of trinity in unity--snow,\nhoarfrost, ice; and when the thaw comes its ways are many. So it is with\nGod in the heart. Conviction comes not alike to all. Some convictions\nfall as the snow from heaven: you never hear the flakes descend, they\nalight so gently one upon the other. There are soft-coming convictions;\nthey are felt, but we can scarcely tell when we began to feel them. A\ntrue work of repentance may be of the gentlest kind. On the other hand,\nthe Lord casteth forth his ice like morsels, the hailstones rattle\nagainst the window, and you think they will surely force their way into\nthe room, and so to many persons convictions come beating down till they\nremind you of hailstones. There is variety. It is as true a frost which\nproduces the noiseless snow as that which brings forth the terrible\nhail. Why should you want hailstones of terror? Be thankful that God has\nvisited you, but do not dictate to him the way of his working.\n\nWith regard to the gospel thaw. If you may but be pardoned by Jesus, do\nnot stipulate as to the manner of his grace. Thaw is universal and\ngradual, but its commencement is not always discernible. The chains of\nwinter are unloosed by degrees: the surface ice and snow melt, and by\nand by the warmth permeates the entire mass till every rock of ice gives\nway. But while thaw is universal and visible in its effects you cannot\nsee the mighty power which is doing all this. Even so you must not\nexpect to discern the Spirit of God. You will find him gradually\noperating upon the entire man, enlightening the understanding, freeing\nthe will, delivering the heart from fear, inspiring hope, waking up the\nwhole spirit, gradually and universally working upon the mind and\nproducing the manifest effects of comfort, and hope, and peace; but you\ncan no more see the Spirit of God than you can see the south wind. The\neffect of his power is to be felt, and when you feel it, do not marvel\nif it be somewhat different from what others have experienced. After\nall, there is a singular likeness in snow and hoarfrost and ice, and so\nthere is a remarkable sameness in the experience of all God's children;\nbut still there is a great variety in the inward operations of divine\ngrace.\n\n4. We must next notice the _rapidity_ of God's works, \"His word runneth\nvery swiftly.\" It did not take many days to get rid of the last snow. A\ncontractor would take many a day to cart it away, but God sendeth forth\nhis word, and the snow and ice disappear at once. So is it with the\nsoul: the Lord often works rapidly when he cheers the heart. You may\nhave been a long time under the operation of his frosty law, but there\nis no reason why you should be another hour under it. If the Spirit\nenables you to trust in the finished work of Christ, you may go out of\nthis house rejoicing that every sin is forgiven. Poor soul, do not think\nthat the way from the horrible pit is to climb, step by step, to the\ntop. Oh no; Jesus can set your feet upon a rock ere the clock shall have\ngone round the dial. He can in an instant bring you from death to life,\nfrom condemnation to justification. \"To-day shall thou be with me in\nParadise,\" was spoken to a dying thief, black and defiled with sin. Only\nbelieve in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be\nsaved.\n\n5. Our last thought upon the operation of God was _his goodness_ in it\nall. What a blessing that God did not send us more law-work than he did!\n\"Who can stand before his cold?\" Oh! beloved, when God has taken away\nfrom man natural comfort, and made him feel divine wrath in his soul, it\nis an awful thing. Speak of a haunted man; no man need be haunted with a\nworse ghost than the remembrance of his old sins. The childish tale of\nthe sailor with the old man of the mountain on his back, who pressed him\nmore and more heavily, is more than realized in the history of the\ntroubled conscience. If one sin do but leap on a man's back, it will\nsink the sinner through every standing-place that he can possibly mount\nupon; he will go down, down, under its weight, till he sinks to the\nlowest depths of hell. There is no place where sin can be borne till you\nget upon the Rock of Ages, and even there the joy is not that _you_ bear\nit, but that Jesus has borne it all for you. The spirit would utterly\nfail before the law, if it had full sway. Thank God, \"he stayeth his\nrough wind in the day of his east wind.\" At the same time, how thankful\nwe may be, that we ever felt the law-frost in our soul. The folly of\nself-righteousness is killed by the winter of conviction. We should\nhave been a thousand times more proud, and foolish, and worldly, than we\nare, if it had not been for the sharp frost with which the Lord nipped\nthe growths of the flesh.\n\nBut how shall we thank him sufficiently for the thaw of his\nlovingkindness? How great the change which his mercy made in us as soon\nas its beams had reached our soul! Hardness vanished, cold departed,\nwarmth and love abounded, and the life-floods leaped in their channels.\nThe Lord visited us, and we rose from our grave of despair, even as the\nseeds arise from the earth. As the bulb of the crocus holds up its\ngolden cup to be filled with sunshine, so did our new-born faith open\nitself to the glory of the Lord. As the primrose peeps up from the sod\nto gaze upon the sun, so did our hope look forth for the promise, and\ndelight itself in the Lord. Thank God that spring-tide has with many of\nus matured into summer, and winter has gone never to return. We praise\nthe Lord for this every day of our lives, and we will praise him when\ntime shall be no more in that sunny land--\n\n  \"Where everlasting spring abides,\n    And never withering flowers.\n  A thread-like stream alone divides\n    That heavenly land from ours.\"\n\nBelieve in the Lord, ye who shiver in the frost of the law, and the thaw\nof love shall soon bring you warm days of joy and peace. So be it.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CORN OF WHEAT DYING TO BRING FORTH FRUIT.\n\n\"And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man\nshould be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of\nwheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it\nbringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it: and he\nthat hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life\neternal.\"--JOHN 12:23-25.\n\n\nCERTAIN Greeks desired to see Jesus. These were Gentiles and it was\nremarkable that they should, just at this time, have sought an interview\nwith our Lord. I suppose that the words \"We would see Jesus\" did not\nmerely mean that they would like to look at him, for that they could\nhave done in the public streets; but they would \"see\" him as we speak of\nseeing a person with whom we wish to hold a conversation. They desired\nto be introduced to him, and to have a few words of instruction from\nhim.\n\nThese Greeks were the advanced guard of that great multitude that no man\ncan number, of all nations, and people, and tongues, who are yet to come\nto Christ. The Saviour would naturally feel a measure of joy at the\nsight of them, but he did not say much about it, for his mind was\nabsorbed just then with thoughts of his great sacrifice and its results;\nyet he took so much notice of the coming of these Gentiles to him that\nit gave a color to the words which are here recorded by his servant\nJohn.\n\nI notice that the Saviour here _displays his broad humanity_, and\nannounces himself as the \"Son of man.\" He had done so before, but here\nwith new intent. He says, \"The hour is come, that the Son of man should\nbe glorified.\" Not as \"the Son of David\" does he here speak of himself,\nbut as \"the Son of man.\" No longer does he make prominent the Jewish\nside of his mission, though as a preacher he was not sent to save the\nlost sheep of the house of Israel; but as the dying Saviour he speaks of\nhimself as one of the race, not the Son of Abraham, or of David, but\n\"the Son of man\": as much brother to the Gentile as to the Jew. Let us\nnever forget the broad humanity of the Lord Jesus. In him all kindreds\nof the earth are joined in one, for he is not ashamed to bear the nature\nof our universal manhood; black and white, prince and pauper, sage and\nsavage, all see in his veins the one blood by which all men are\nconstituted one family. As the Son of man Jesus is near akin to every\nman that lives.\n\nNow, too, that the Greeks were come, our Lord _speaks somewhat of his\nglory_ as approaching. \"The hour is come,\" saith he, \"that the Son of\nman should be glorified.\" He does not say \"that the Son of man should be\ncrucified,\" though that was true, and the crucifixion must come before\nthe glorification; but the sight of those first-fruits from among the\nGentiles makes him dwell upon his glory. Though he remembers his death,\nhe speaks rather of the glory which would grow out of his great\nsacrifice. Remember, brethren, that Christ is glorified in the souls\nthat he saves. As a physician wins honor by those he heals, so the\nPhysician of souls gets glory out of those who come to him. When these\ndevout Greeks came, saying, \"Sirs, we would see Jesus,\" though a mere\ndesire to see him is only as the green blade, yet he rejoiced in it as\nthe pledge of the harvest, and he saw in it the dawn of the glory of his\ncross.\n\nI think, too, that the coming of these Greeks somewhat _led the Saviour\nto use the metaphor of the buried corn_. We are informed that wheat was\nlargely mixed up with Grecian mysteries, but that is of small\nimportance. It is more to the point that our Saviour was then undergoing\nthe process which would burst the Jewish husk in which, if I may use\nsuch terms, his human life had been enveloped. I mean this: aforetime\nour Lord said that he was not sent save to the lost sheep of the house\nof Israel, and when the Syrophenician woman pleaded for her daughter he\nreminded her of the restricted character of his commission as a prophet\namong men. When he sent out the seventy, he bade them not to go into the\ncities of the Samaritans, but to seek after the house of Israel only.\nNow, however, that blessed corn of wheat is breaking through its outer\nintegument. Even before it is put into the ground to die the divine corn\nof wheat begins to show its living power, and the true Christ is being\nmanifested. The Christ of God, though assuredly the Son of David, was,\non the Father's side, neither Jew nor Gentile, but simply man; and the\ngreat sympathies of his heart were with all mankind. He regarded all\nwhom he had chosen as his own brethren without distinction of sex, or\nnation, or the period of the world's history in which they should live;\nand, at the sight of these Greeks, the true Christ came forth and\nmanifested himself to the world as he had not done before. Hence,\nperhaps, the peculiar metaphor which we have now to explain.\n\nIn our text, dear friends, we have two things upon which I will speak\nbriefly, as I am helped of the Spirit. First, we have _profound\ndoctrinal teaching_, and, secondly, we have _practical moral principle_.\n\nFirst, we have PROFOUND DOCTRINAL TEACHING.\n\nOur Saviour suggested to his thoughtful disciples a number of what might\nbe called doctrinal paradoxes.\n\nFirst, that, _glorious as he was, he was yet to be glorified_. \"The hour\nis come, that the Son of man should be glorified.\" Jesus was always\nglorious. It was a glorious thing for the human person of the Son of man\nto be personally one with the Godhead. Our Lord Jesus had also great\nglory all the while he was on earth, in the perfection of his moral\ncharacter. The gracious end for which he came here was real glory to\nhim: his condescending to be the Saviour of men was a great\nglorification of his loving character. His way of going about his\nwork--the way in which he consecrated himself to his Father and was\nalways about his Father's business, the way in which he put aside Satan\nwith his blandishments, and would not be bribed by all the kingdoms of\nthe world--all this was his glory. I should not speak incorrectly if I\nwere to say that Christ was really as to his moral nature never more\nglorious than when throughout his life on earth he was obscure,\ndespised, rejected, and yet the faithful servant of God, and the ardent\nlover of the sons of men. The apostle says, \"The Word was made flesh,\nand dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only\nbegotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,\" in which he refers not\nonly to the transfiguration, in which there were special glimpses of the\ndivine glory, but to our Lord's tabernacling among men in the common\nwalks of life. Saintly, spiritual minds beheld the glory of his life,\nthe glory of grace and truth such as never before had been seen in any\nof the sons of men. But though he was thus, to all intents and purposes,\nalready glorious, Jesus had yet to be glorified. Something more was to\nbe added to his personal honor. Remember, then, that when you have the\nclearest conceptions of your Lord, there is still a glory to be added to\nall that you can see even with the word of God in your hands. Glorious\nas the living Son of man had been, there was a further glory to come\nupon him through his death, his resurrection, and his entrance within\nthe veil. He was a glorious Christ, and yet he had to be glorified.\n\nA second paradox is this--that _his glory was to come to him through\nshame_. He says, \"The hour is come, that the Son of man should be\nglorified,\" and then he speaks of his death. The greatest fulness of our\nLord's glory arises out of his emptying himself, and becoming obedient\nto death, even the death of the cross. It is his highest reputation that\nhe made himself of no reputation. His crown derives new lustre from his\ncross; his ever living is rendered more honorable by the fact of his\ndying unto sin once. Those blessed cheeks would never have been so fair\nas they are in the eyes of his chosen if they had not once been spat\nupon. Those dear eyes had never had so overpowering a glance if they had\nnot once been dimmed in the agonies of death for sinners. His hands are\nas gold rings set with the beryl, but their brightest adornments are the\nprints of the cruel nails. As the Son of God his glory was all his own\nby nature, but as Son of man his present splendor is due to the cross,\nand to the ignominy which surrounded it when he bore our sins in his own\nbody. We must never forget this, and if ever we are tempted to merge\nthe crucified Saviour in the coming King we should feel rebuked by the\nfact that thus we should rob our Lord of his highest honor. Whenever you\nhear men speak lightly of the atonement stand up for it at once, for out\nof this comes the main glory of your Lord and Master. They say, \"Let him\ncome down from the cross, and we will believe on him.\" If he did so what\nwould remain to be believed? It is on the cross, it is from the cross,\nit is through the cross that Jesus mounts to his throne, and the Son of\nman has a special honor in heaven to-day because he was slain and has\nredeemed us to God by his blood.\n\nThe next paradox is this--_Jesus must be alone or abide alone_. Notice\nthe text as I read it: \"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and\ndie,\" and so gets alone, \"it abideth alone.\" The Son of man must be\nalone in the grave, or he will be alone in heaven. He must fall into the\nground like the corn of wheat, and be there in the loneliness of death,\nor else he will abide alone. This is a paradox readily enough explained;\nour Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of man, unless he had trodden the\nwinepress alone, unless beneath the olives of Gethsemane he had wrestled\non the ground, and as it were sunk into the ground until he died, if he\nhad not been there alone, and if on the cross he had not cried, \"My God,\nmy God, why hast thou forsaken me?\" so that he felt quite deserted and\nalone, like the buried corn of wheat--could not have saved us. If he had\nnot actually died he would as man have been alone forever: not without\nthe eternal Father and the divine Spirit, not without the company of\nangels; but there had not been another man to keep him company. Our Lord\nJesus cannot bear to be alone. A head without its members is a ghastly\nsight, crown it as you may. Know ye not that the church is his body, the\nfulness of him that filleth all in all? Without his people Jesus would\nhave been a shepherd without sheep; surely it is not a very honorable\noffice to be a shepherd without a flock.\n\nHe would have been a husband without his spouse; but he loves his bride\nso well that for this purpose did he leave his Father and become one\nflesh with her whom he had chosen. He clave to her, and died for her;\nand had he not done so he would have been a bridegroom without a bride.\nThis could never be. His heart is not of the kind that can enjoy a\nselfish happiness which is shared by none. If you have read Solomon's\nSong, where the heart of the Bridegroom is revealed, you will have seen\nthat he desires the company of his love, his dove, his undefiled. His\ndelights were with the sons of men. Simon Stylites on the top of a\npillar is not Jesus Christ; the hermit in his cave may mean well, but he\nfinds no warrant for his solitude in him whose cross he professes to\nvenerate. Jesus was the friend of men, not avoiding them, but seeking\nthe lost. It was truly said of him, \"This man receiveth sinners, and\neateth with them.\" He draws all men unto him, and for this cause he was\nlifted up from the earth. Yet must this great attractive man have been\nalone in heaven if he had not been alone in Gethsemane, alone before\nPilate, alone when mocked by soldiers, and alone upon the cross. If this\nprecious grain of wheat had not descended into the dread loneliness of\ndeath it had remained alone, but since he died he \"bringeth forth much\nfruit.\"\n\nThis brings us to the fourth paradox--_Christ must die to give life_.\n\"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:\nbut if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit\": Jesus must die to give\nlife to others. Persons who do not think confound dying with\nnon-existence, and living with existence--very, very different things.\n\"The soul that sinneth it shall die:\" it shall never go out of\nexistence, but it shall die by being severed from God who is its life.\nThere are many men who exist, and yet have not true life, and shall not\nsee life, but \"the wrath of God abideth on them.\" The grain of wheat\nwhen it is put into the ground dies; do we mean that it ceases to be?\nNot at all. What is death? It is the resolution of anything possessing\nlife into its primary elements. With us it is the body parting from the\nsoul; with a grain of wheat it is the dissolving of the elements which\nmade up the corn. Our divine Lord when put into the earth did not see\ncorruption, but his soul was parted from his body for a while, and thus\nhe died; and unless he had literally and actually died he could not have\ngiven life to any of us.\n\nBeloved friends, this teaches us where the vital point of Christianity\nlies, _Christ's death is the life of his teaching_. See here: if\nChrist's preaching had been the essential point, or if his example had\nbeen the vital point, he could have brought forth fruit and multiplied\nChristians by his preaching, and by his example. But he declares that,\nexcept he shall die, he shall not bring forth fruit. Am I told that this\nwas because his death would be the completion of his example, and the\nseal of his preaching? I admit that it was so, but I can conceive that\nif our Lord had rather continued to live on--if he had been here\nconstantly going up and down the world preaching and living as he did,\nand if he had wrought miracles as he did, and put forth that\nmysterious, attracting power, which was always with him, he might have\nproduced a marvellous number of disciples. If his teaching and living\nhad been the way in which spiritual life could have been bestowed,\nwithout an atonement, why did not the Saviour prolong his life on earth?\nBut the fact is that no man among us can know anything about spiritual\nlife except through the atonement. There is no way by which we can come\nto a knowledge of God except through the precious blood of Jesus Christ,\nby which we have access to the Father. If, as some tell us, the ethical\npart of Christianity is much more to be thought of than its peculiar\ndoctrines, then, why did Jesus die at all? The ethical might have been\nbrought out better by a long life of holiness. He might have lived on\ntill now if he had chosen, and still have preached, and still have set\nan example among the sons of men; but he assures us that only by death\ncould he have brought forth fruit. What, not with all that holy living?\nNo. What, not by that matchless teaching? No. Not one among us could\nhave been saved from eternal death except an expiation had been wrought\nby Jesus' sacrifice. Not one of us could have been quickened into\nspiritual life except Christ himself had died and risen from the dead.\n\nBrethren, all the spiritual life that there is in the world is the\nresult of Christ's death. We live under a dispensation which shadows\nforth this truth to us. Life first came into the world by a creation:\nthat was lost in the garden. Since then, the father of our race is Noah,\nand life by Noah came to us by a typical death, burial, and\nresurrection. Noah went in unto the ark, and was shut in, and so buried.\nIn that ark Noah went among the dead, himself enveloped in the rain and\nin the ark, and he came out into a new world, rising again, as it were,\nwhen the waters were assuaged. That is the way of life to-day. We are\ndead with Christ, we are buried with Christ, we are risen with Christ;\nand there is no real spiritual life in this world except that which has\ncome to us by the process of death, burial, and resurrection with\nChrist. Do you know anything about this, dear friends?--for if you do\nnot, you know not the life of God. You know the theory, but do you know\nthe experimental power of this within your own spirit? Whenever we hear\nthe doctrine of the atonement attacked, let us stand up for it. Let us\ntell the world that while we value the life of Christ even more than\nthey do, we know that it is not the example of Christ that saves\nanybody, but his death for our sakes. If the blessed Christ had lived\nhere all these nineteen hundred years, without sin, teaching all his\nmarvellous precepts with his own sublime and simple eloquence, yet he\nhad not produced one single atom of spiritual life among all the sons of\nmen. Without dying he brings forth no fruit. If you want life, my dear\nhearer, you will not get it as an unregenerate man by attempting to\nimitate the example of Christ. You may get good of a certain sort that\nway, but you will never obtain spiritual life and eternal salvation by\nthat method. You must believe on Jesus as dying for you. You have to\nunderstand that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanses us\nfrom all sin. When you have learned that truth, you shall study his life\nwith advantage; but unless you recognize that the grain of wheat is cast\ninto the ground, and made to die, you will never realize any fruit from\nit in your own soul, or see fruit in the souls of others.\n\nOne other blessed lesson of deep divinity is to be learnt from our\ntext: it is this--_since Jesus Christ did really fall into the ground\nand die, we may expect much as the result of it_. \"If it die, it\nbringeth forth much fruit.\" Some have a little Christ, and they expect\nto see little things come of him. I have met with good people who appear\nto think that Jesus Christ died for the sound people who worship at Zoar\nChapel, and, perhaps, for a few more who go to Ebenezer in a neighboring\ntown, and they hope that one day a chosen few--a scanty company indeed\nthey are, and they do their best by mutual quarrelling to make them\nfewer--will glorify God for the salvation of a very small remnant. I\nwill not blame these dear brethren, but I do wish that their hearts were\nenlarged. We do not yet know all the fruit that is to come out of our\nLord Jesus. May there not come a day when the millions of London shall\nworship God with one consent? I look for a day when the knowledge of the\nglory of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, when\nkings shall fall down before the Son of God, and all nations shall call\nhim blessed. \"It is too much to expect,\" says one; \"missions make very\nslow progress.\" I know all that, but missions are not the seed: all that\nwe look for is to come out of that corn of wheat which fell into the\nground and died: this is to bring forth much fruit. When I think of my\nMaster's blessed person as perfect Son of God and Son of man; when I\nthink of the infinite glory which he laid aside, and of the unutterable\npangs he bore, I ask whether angels can compute the value of the\nsacrifice he offered. God only knows the love of God that was manifested\nin the death of his Son, and do you think that there will be all this\nplanning and working and sacrifice of infinite love, and then an\ninsignificant result? It is not like God that it should be so. The\ntravail of the Son of God shall not bring forth a scanty good. The\nresult shall be commensurate with the means, and the effect shall be\nparallel with the cause. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.\nHallelujah! Ay, as the groanings of the cross must have astounded\nangels, so shall the results of the cross amaze the seraphim, and make\nthem admire the excess of glory which has arisen from the shameful death\nof their Lord. O beloved, great things are to come out of our Jesus yet.\nCourage, you that are dispirited. Be brave, you soldiers of the cross.\nVictory awaits your banner. Wait patiently, work hopefully, suffer\njoyfully, for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among\nthe nations.\n\nThus have I spoken upon profound divinity.\n\nI close with a few words upon PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION. Learn now that what\nis true of Christ is in measure true of every child of God: \"Except a\ncorn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it\ndie, it bringeth forth much fruit.\" This is so far applicable to us, as\nthe next verse indicates--\"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he\nthat hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.\"\n\nFirst, _we must die if we are to live_. There is no spiritual life for\nyou, for me, for any man, except by dying into it. Have you a fine-spun\nrighteousness of your own? It must die. Have you any faith in yourself?\nIt must die. The sentence of death must be in yourself, and then you\nshall enter into life. The withering power of the Spirit of God must be\nexperienced before his quickening influence can be known: \"The grass\nwithereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth\nupon it.\" You must be slain by the sword of the Spirit before you can be\nmade alive by the breath of the Spirit.\n\nNext, _we must surrender everything to keep it_. \"He that loveth his\nlife shall lose it.\" Brother, you can never have spiritual life, hope,\njoy, peace, heaven, except by giving everything up into God's hands. You\nshall have everything in Christ when you are willing to have nothing of\nyour own. You must ground your weapons of rebellion, you must drop the\nplumes of your pride, you must give up into God's hand all that you are\nand all that you have; and if you do not thus lose everything in will,\nyou shall lose everything in fact; indeed, you have lost it already. A\nfull surrender of everything to God is the only way to keep it. Some of\nGod's people find this literally true. I have known a mother keep back\nher child from God, and the child has died. Wealthy people have\nworshipped their wealth, and as they were God's people, he has broken\ntheir idols into shivers. You must lose your all if you would keep it,\nand renounce your most precious thing if you would have it preserved to\nyou.\n\nNext, _we must lose self in order to find self_. \"He that hateth his\nlife shall keep it unto life eternal.\" You must entirely give up living\nfor yourself, and then you yourself shall live. The man who lives for\nhimself does not live; he loses the essence, the pleasure, the crown of\nexistence; but if you live for others and for God you will find the life\nof life. \"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and\nall these things shall be added unto you.\" There is no way of finding\nyourself in personal joy like losing yourself in the joy of others.\n\nOnce more: if you _wish to be the means of life to others, you must in\nyour measure die yourself_. \"Oh,\" say you, \"will it actually come to\ndeath?\" Well, it may not, but you should be prepared for it if it\nshould. Who have most largely blessed the present age? I will tell you.\nI believe we owe our gospel liberties mainly to the poor men and women\nwho died at the stake for the faith. Call them Lollards, Anabaptists, or\nwhat you will, the men who died for it gave life to the holy cause. Some\nof all ranks did this, from bishops downward to poor boys. Many of them\ncould not preach from the pulpit, but they preached grander sermons from\nthe fagots than all the reformers could thunder from their rostrums.\nThey fell into the ground and died, and the \"much fruit\" abides to this\nday. The self-sacrificing death of her saints was the life and increase\nof the church. If we wish to achieve a great purpose, establish a great\ntruth, and raise up a great agency for good, it must be by the surrender\nof ourselves, yea, of our very lives to the one all-absorbing purpose.\nNot else can we succeed. There is no giving out to others, without\ntaking so much out of yourself. He who serves God and finds that it is\neasy work will find it hard work to give in his account at the last. A\nsermon that costs nothing is worth nothing; if it did not come from the\nheart it will not go to the heart. Take it as a rule that wear and tear\nmust go on, even to exhaustion, if we are to be largely useful. Death\nprecedes growth. The Saviour of others cannot save himself. We must not,\ntherefore, grudge the lives of those who die under the evil climate of\nAfrica, if they die for Christ; nor must we murmur if here and there\nGod's best servants are cut down by brain exhaustion: it is the law of\ndivine husbandry that by death cometh increase.\n\nAnd you, dear friend, must not say, \"Oh, I cannot longer teach in the\nSunday-school: I work so hard all the week that I--I--I\"--shall I finish\nthe sentence for you? You work so hard for yourself all the week that\nyou cannot work for God one day in the week. Is that it? \"No, not quite\nso, but I am so fagged.\" Very true, but think of your Lord. He knew what\nweariness was for you, and yet he wearied not in well-doing. You will\nnever come to sweat of blood as he did. Come, dear friend, will you be a\ncorn of wheat laid up on the shelf alone? Will you be like that wheat in\nthe mummy's hand, unfruitful and forgotten, or would you grow? I hear\nyou say, \"Sow me somewhere.\" I will try to do so. Let me drop you into\nthe Sunday-school field, or into the Tract-lending acre, or into the\nStreet-preaching parcel of land. \"But if I make any great exertion it\nwill half kill me.\" Yes; and if it shall quite kill, you will then prove\nthe text, \"If it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.\" Those who have\nkilled themselves of late in our Lord's service are not so numerous that\nwe need be distressed by the fear that an enormous sacrifice of life is\nlikely to occur. Little cause is there just now to repress fanaticism,\nbut far more reason to denounce self-seeking. O, my brethren, let us\nrise to a condition of consecration more worthy of our Lord and of his\nglorious cause, and henceforth may we be eager to be as the buried,\nhidden, dying, yet fruit-bearing wheat for the glory of our Lord. Thus\nhave I merely glanced at the text; another day may it be our privilege\nto dive into its depths.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PLOUGHMAN.\n\n\"Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow?\"--ISAIAH 28:24.\n\n\nUNLESS they are cultivated, fields yield us nothing but briers and\nthistles. In this we may see ourselves. Unless the great Husbandman\nshall till us by his grace, we shall produce nothing that is good, but\neverything that is evil. If one of these days I shall hear that a\ncountry has been discovered where wheat grows without the work of the\nfarmer, I may then, perhaps, hope to find one of our race who will bring\nforth holiness without the grace of God. Hitherto all land on which the\nfoot of man has trodden has needed labor and care; and even so among men\nthe need of gracious tillage is universal. Jesus says to all of us, \"Ye\nmust be born again.\" Unless God the Holy Spirit breaks up the heart with\nthe plough of the law, and sows it with the seed of the gospel, not a\nsingle ear of holiness will any of us produce, even though we may be\nchildren of godly parents, and may be regarded as excellent moral people\nby those with whom we live.\n\nYes, and the plough is needed not only to produce that which is good,\nbut to destroy that which is evil. There are diseases which, in the\ncourse of ages, wear themselves out, and do not appear again among men;\nand there may be forms of vice, which under changed circumstances, do\nnot so much abound as they used to do; but human nature will always\nremain the same, and therefore there will always be plentiful crops of\nthe weeds of sin in man's fields, and nothing can keep these under but\nspiritual husbandry, carried on by the Spirit of God. You cannot destroy\nweeds by exhortations, nor can you tear out the roots of sin from the\nsoul by moral suasion; something sharper and more effectual must be\nbrought to bear upon them. God must put his own right hand to the\nplough, or the hemlock of sin will never give place to the corn of\nholiness. Good is never spontaneous in unrenewed humanity, and evil is\nnever cut up till the ploughshare of almighty grace is driven through\nit.\n\nThe text leads our thoughts in this direction, and gives us practical\nguidance through asking the simple question, \"Doth the ploughman plough\nall day to sow?\" _This question may be answered in the affirmative_,\n\"Yes, in the proper season he does plough all day to sow;\" and,\nsecondly, _this text may more properly be answered in the negative_,\n\"No, the ploughman does not plough every day to sow; he has other work\nto do according to the season.\"\n\nI. First, our text may be ANSWERED IN THE AFFIRMATIVE--\"Yes, the\nploughman does plough all day to sow.\"\n\nWhen it is ploughing time he keeps on at it till his work is done; if it\nrequires one day, or two days, or twenty days to finish his fields, he\ncontinues at his task while the weather permits. The perseverance of the\nploughman is instructive, and it teaches us a double lesson. When the\nLord comes to plough the heart of man he ploughs all day, and herein is\nhis patience; and, secondly, so ought the Lord's servants to labor all\nday with men's hearts, and herein is our perseverance.\n\n\"Doth the ploughman plough all day?\" _So doth God plough the heart of\nman, and herein is his patience._ The team was in the field in the case\nof some of us very early in the morning, for our first recollections\nhave to do with conscience and the furrows of pain which it made in our\nyouthful mind. When we were little children we woke in the night under a\nsense of sin; our father's teaching and our mother's prayers made deep\nand painful impressions upon us, and though we did not then yield our\nhearts to God, we were greatly stirred, and all indifference to religion\nwas made impossible. When we were boys at school the reading of a\nchapter in the Word of God, or the death of a playmate, or an address at\na Bible-class, or a solemn sermon, so affected us that we were uneasy\nfor weeks. The strivings of the Spirit of God within urged us to think\nof higher and better things. Though we quenched the Spirit, though we\nstifled conviction, yet we bore the marks of the ploughshare; furrows\nwere made in the soul, and certain foul weeds of evil were cut up by the\nroots although no seed of grace was as yet sown in our hearts. Some have\ncontinued in this state for many years, ploughed but not sown; but,\nblessed be God, it was not so with others of us; for we had not left\nboyhood before the good seed of the gospel fell upon our heart. Alas!\nthere are many who do not thus yield to grace, and with them the\nploughman ploughs all day to sow. I have seen the young man coming to\nLondon in his youth, yielding to its temptations, drinking in its\npoisoned sweets, violating his conscience, and yet continuing unhappy in\nit all, fearful, unrestful, stirred about even as the soil is agitated\nby the plough. In how many cases has this kind of work gone on for\nyears, and all to no avail. Ah! and I have known the man come to middle\nlife, and still he has not received the good seed, neither has the\nground of his hard heart been thoroughly broken up. He has gone on in\nbusiness without God; day after day he has risen and gone to bed again\nwith no more religion than his horses: and yet all this while there have\nbeen ringing in his ears warnings of judgment to come, and chidings of\nconscience, so that he has not been at peace. After a powerful sermon he\nhas not enjoyed his meals, or been able to sleep, for he has asked\nhimself, \"What shall I do in the end thereof?\" The ploughman has\nploughed all day, till the evening shadows have lengthened and the day\nhas faded to a close. What a mercy it is when the furrows are at last\nmade ready and the good seed is cast in, to be received, nurtured, and\nmultiplied a hundred fold.\n\nIt is mournful to remember that we have seen this ploughing continue\ntill the sun has touched the horizon and the night dews have begun to\nfall. Even then the long-suffering God has followed up his\nwork--ploughing, ploughing, ploughing, ploughing, till darkness ended\nall. Do I address any aged ones whose lease must soon run out? I would\naffectionately beseech them to consider their position. What! Threescore\nyears old and yet unsaved? Forty years did God suffer the manners of\nIsrael in the wilderness, but he has borne with you for sixty years.\nSeventy years old, and yet unregenerated! Ah, my friend, you will have\nbut little time in which to serve your Saviour before you go to heaven.\nBut will you go there at all? Is it not growing dreadfully likely that\nyou will die in your sins and perish for ever? How happy are those who\nare brought to Christ in early life; but still remember--\n\n  \"While the lamp holds out to burn,\n   The vilest sinner may return.\"\n\nIt is late, it is very late, but is not too late. The ploughman ploughs\nall day; and the Lord waits that he may be gracious unto you. I have\nseen many aged persons converted, and therefore I would encourage other\nold folks to believe in Jesus. I once read a sermon in which a minister\nasserted that he had seldom known any converted who were over forty\nyears of age if they had been hearers of the gospel all their lives.\nThere is certainly much need to caution those who are guilty of delay,\nbut there must be no manufacturing of facts. Whatever that minister\nmight think, or even observe, my own observation leads me to believe\nthat about as many people are converted to God at one age as at another,\ntaking into consideration the fact that the young are much more numerous\nthan the old. It is a dreadful thing to have remained an unbeliever all\nthese years; but yet the grace of God does not stop short at a certain\nage; those who enter the vineyard at the eleventh hour shall have their\npenny, and grace shall be glorified in the old as well as in the young.\nCome along, old friend, Jesus Christ invites you to come to him even\nnow, though you have stood out so long. You have been a sadly tough\npiece of ground, and the ploughman has ploughed all day; but if at last\nthe sods are turned, and the heart is lying in ridges, there is hope of\nyou yet.\n\n\"Doth the ploughman plough all day?\" I answer--Yes, however long the day\nmay be, God in mercy ploughs still, he is long-suffering, and full of\ntenderness and mercy and grace. Do not spurn such patience, but yield to\nthe Lord who has acted toward you with so much gentle love.\n\nThe text, however, not only sets forth patience on God's part, but it\nteaches _perseverance on our part_. \"Doth the ploughman plough all day?\"\nYes, he does; then if I am seeking Christ, ought I to be discouraged\nbecause I do not immediately find him? The promise is, \"He that asketh,\nreceiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it\nshall be opened.\" There may be reasons why the door is not opened at our\nfirst knock. What then? \"Doth the ploughman plough all day?\" Then will I\nknock all day. It may be at the first seeking I may not find; what then?\n\"Doth the ploughman plough all day?\" Then will I seek all day. It may\nhappen that at my first asking I shall not receive; what then? \"Doth the\nploughman plough all day?\" Then will I ask all day? Friends, if you have\nbegun to seek the Lord, the short way is, \"Believe on the Lord Jesus\nChrist, and thou shalt be saved.\" Do that at once. In the name of God do\nit at once, and you are saved at once. May the Spirit of God bring you\nto faith in Jesus, and you are at once in the kingdom of Christ. But if\nperadventure in seeking the Lord, you are ignorant of this, or do not\nsee your way, never give up seeking; get to the foot of the cross, lay\nhold of it, and cry, \"If I perish I will perish here. Lord, I come to\nthee in Jesus Christ for mercy, and if thou art not pleased to look at\nme immediately, and forgive my sins, I will cry to thee till thou dost.\"\nWhen God's Holy Spirit brings a man to downright earnest prayer which\nwill not take a denial, he is not far from peace. Careless indifference\nand shilly-shallying with God hold men in bondage. They find peace when\ntheir hearts are roused to strong resolve to seek until they find. I\nlike to see men search the Scriptures till they learn the way of\nsalvation, and hear the gospel till their souls live by it. If they are\nresolved to drive the plough through doubts, and fears, and\ndifficulties, till they come to salvation, they shall soon come to it by\nthe grace of God.\n\nThe same is true in seeking the salvation of others. \"Doth the ploughman\nplough all day?\" Yes, when it is ploughing-time. Then, so will I work\non, and on, and on. I will pray and preach, or pray and teach, however\nlong the day may be that God shall appoint me, for--\n\n  \"'Tis all my business here below\n   The precious gospel seed to sow.\"\n\nBrother worker, are you getting a little weary? Never mind, rouse\nyourself, and plough on for the love of Jesus, and dying men. Our day of\nwork has in it only the appointed hours, and while they last let us\nfulfil our task. Ploughing is hard work; but as there will be no harvest\nwithout it, let us just put forth all our strength, and never flag till\nwe have performed our Lord's will, and by his holy Spirit wrought\nconviction in men's souls. Some soils are very stiff, and cling\ntogether, and the labor is heart-breaking; others are like the\nunreclaimed waste, full of roots and tangled bramble; they need a steam\nplough, and we must pray the Lord to make us such, for we cannot leave\nthem untilled, and therefore we must put forth more strength that the\nlabor may be done.\n\nI heard some time ago of a minister who called to see a poor man who was\ndying, but he was not able to gain admittance; he called the next\nmorning, and some idle excuse was made so that he could not see him; he\ncalled again the next morning, but he was still refused; he went on till\nhe called twenty times in vain, but on the twenty-first occasion he was\npermitted to see the sufferer, and by God's grace he saved a soul from\ndeath. \"Why do you tell your child a thing twenty times?\" asked some one\nof a mother. \"Because,\" said she, \"I find nineteen times is not enough.\"\nNow, when a soul is to be ploughed, it may so happen that hundreds of\nfurrows will not do it. What then? Why, plough all day till the work is\ndone. Whether you are ministers, missionaries, teachers, or private\nsoul-winners, never grow weary, for your work is noble, and the reward\nof it is infinite. The grace of God is seen in our being permitted to\nengage in such holy service; it is greatly magnified in sustaining us in\nit, and it will be pre-eminently conspicuous in enabling us to hold out\ntill we can say, \"I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.\"\n\nWe prize that which costs us labor and service, and we shall set all the\nhigher value upon the saved ones when the Lord grants them to our\nefforts. It is good for us to learn the value of our sheaves by going\nforth weeping to the sowing. When you think of the ploughman's ploughing\nall day, be moved to plod on in earnest efforts to win souls. Seek--\n\n  \"With cries, entreaties, tears to save\n   And snatch them from the fiery wave.\"\n\nDoth the ploughman plough all day for a little bit of oats or barley,\nand will not you plough all day for souls that shall live for ever, if\nsaved, to adore the grace of God, or shall live for ever, if unsaved, in\nouter darkness and woe? Oh, by the terrors of the wrath to come and the\nglory that is to be revealed, gird up your loins, and plough all day.\n\nI would beg all the members of our churches to keep their hands on the\ngospel plough, and their eyes straight before them. \"Doth the ploughman\nplough all day?\" let Christians do the same. Start close to the hedge,\nand go right down to the bottom of the field. Plough as close to the\nditch as you can, and leave small headlands. What though there are\nfallen women, thieves, and drunkards in the slums around, do not neglect\nany of them; for if you leave a stretch of land to the weeds they will\nsoon spread among the wheat. When you have gone right to the end of the\nfield once, what shall you do next? Why, just turn round, and make for\nthe place you started from. And when you have thus been up and down,\nwhat next? Why, up and down again. And what next? Why, up and down\nagain. You have visited that district with tracts; do it again,\nfifty-two times in the year--multiply your furrows. We must learn how to\ncontinue in well doing. Your eternal destiny is to go on doing good for\never and ever, and it is well to go through a rehearsal here. So just\nplough on, plough on, and look for results as the reward of continued\nperseverance. Ploughing is not done with a skip and jump; the ploughman\nploughs all day. Dash and flash are all very fine in some things, but\nnot in ploughing; there the work must be steady, persistent, regular.\nCertain persons soon give it up, it wears out their gloves, blisters\ntheir soft hands, tires their bones, and makes them eat their bread\nrather more in the sweat of their face than they care for. Those whom\nthe Lord fills with his grace will keep to their ploughing year after\nyear, and verily I say unto you, they shall have their reward. \"Doth the\nploughman plough all day?\" Then let us do the same, being assured that\none day every hill and valley shall be tilled and sown, and every desert\nand wilderness shall yield a harvest for our Lord, and the angel reapers\nshall descend, and the shouts of the harvest-home shall fill both earth\nand heaven.\n\nII. But, now, somewhat briefly, THE TEXT MAY BE ANSWERED IN THE\nNEGATIVE. \"Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow?\" No, he does not\nalways plough. After he has ploughed he breaks the clods, sows, reaps,\nand threshes. In the chapter before us you will see that other works of\nhusbandry are mentioned. The ploughman has many other things to do\nbeside ploughing. There is an advance in what he does; this teaches us\nthat there is the like on God's part, and should be the like on ours.\n\nFirst, _on God's part, there is an advance in what he does_. \"Doth the\nploughman plough all day?\" No, he goes forward to other matters. It may\nbe that in the case of some of you the Lord has been using certain\npainful agencies to plough you. You are feeling the terrors of the law,\nthe bitterness of sin, the holiness of God, the weakness of the flesh,\nand the shadow of the wrath to come. Is this going to last forever? Will\nit continue till the spirit fails and the soul expires? Listen: \"Doth\nthe ploughman plough all day?\" No, he is preparing for something\nelse--he ploughs to sow. Thus doth the Lord deal with you; therefore be\nof good courage, there is an ending to the wounding and slaying, and\nbetter things are in store for you. You are poor and needy, and you seek\nwater, and there is none and your tongue faileth for thirst; but the\nLord will hear you, and deliver you. He will not contend forever,\nneither will he be always wroth. He will turn again, and he will have\ncompassion upon us. He will not always make furrows by his chiding, he\nwill come and cast in the precious corn of consolation, and water it\nwith the dews of heaven and smile upon it with the sunlight of his\ngrace; and there shall soon be in you, first the blade, then the ear,\nafter that the full corn in the ear, and in due season you shall joy as\nwith the joy of harvest. O ye who are sore wounded in the place of\ndragons, I hear you cry, Doth God always send terror and conviction of\nsin? Listen to this: \"If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the\ngood of the land,\" and what is the call of God to the willing and\nobedient but this: \"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be\nsaved.\" Thou shalt be saved now, find peace now, if thou wilt have done\nwith thyself and all looking to thine own good works to save thee, and\nwilt turn to him who paid the ransom for thee upon the tree. The Lord is\ngentle and tender and full of compassion, he will not always chide,\nneither will he keep his anger for ever. Many of your doubts and fears\ncome of unbelief, or of Satan, or of the flesh, and are not of God at\nall. Blame him not for what he does not send, and does not wish you to\nsuffer. His mind is for your peace, not for your distress; for thus he\nspeaks: \"Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. Speak ye\ncomfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is\naccomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.\" \"I have blotted out, as a\nthick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto\nme; for I have redeemed thee.\" He has smitten, but he will smile; he has\nwounded, but he will heal; he has slain, but he will make alive;\ntherefore turn unto him at once and receive comfort at his hands. The\nploughman does not plough for ever, else would he reap no harvest; and\nGod is not always heart-breaking, he also draws near on heart-healing\nerrands.\n\nYou see, then, that the great husbandman advances from painful agencies,\nand I want you to mark that he goes on to _productive work_ in the\nhearts of his people. He will take away the furrows, you shall not see\nthem, for the corn will cover them with beauty. As she that was in\ntravail remembers no more her sorrow for joy that a man is born into the\nworld, so shall you, who are under the legal rod, remember no more the\nmisery of conviction, for God will sow you with grace, and make your\nsoul, even your poor, barren soul, to bring forth fruit unto his praise\nand glory. \"Oh!\" says one, \"I wish that would come true to me.\" It will.\n\"Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow?\" You expect by-and-by to see\nploughed fields clothed with springing corn; and you may look to see\nrepentant hearts gladdened with forgiveness. Therefore, be of good\ncourage.\n\nYou shall advance, also, to a _joyful experience_. See that ploughman;\nhe whistles as he ploughs, he does not own much of this world's goods,\nbut yet he is merry. He looks forward to the day when he will be on the\ntop of the big wagon, joining in the shout of the harvest home, and so\nhe ploughs in hope, expecting a crop. And, dear soul, God will yet joy\nand rejoice over you when you believe in Jesus Christ, and you, too,\nshall be brimful of joy. Be of good cheer, the better portion is yet to\ncome, press forward to it. Gospel sorrowing leads on to gospel hoping,\nbelieving, rejoicing, and the rejoicing knows no end. God will not\nchasten all day, but he will lead you on from strength to strength, from\nglory unto glory, till you shall be like himself. This, then, is the\nadvance that there is in God's work among men, from painful agencies to\nproductive work and joyful experience.\n\nBut what if the ploughing should never lead to sowing; what if you\nshould be disturbed in conscience, and should go on to resist it all?\nThen God will make another advance, but it will be to put up the plough,\nand to command the clouds that they rain no rain upon the land, and then\nits end is to be burned. Oh! man, there is nothing more awful than for\nyour soul to be left to go out of cultivation; God himself giving you\nup. Surely that is hell. He that is unholy will be unholy still. The law\nof fixity of character will operate eternally, and no hand of the\nmerciful One shall come near to till the soul again. What worse than\nthis can happen?\n\nWe conclude by saying that _this advance is a lesson to us_; for we,\ntoo, are to go forward. \"Doth the ploughman plough all day?\" No, he\nploughs to sow, and in due time he sows. Some churches seem to think\nthat all they have to do is to plough; at least, all they attempt is a\nkind of scratching of the soil, and talking of what they are going to\ndo. It is fine talk, certainly; but doth the ploughman plough all day?\nYou may draw up a large programme and promise great things; but pray do\nnot stop there. Don't be making furrows all day; do get to your sowing.\nI fancy that those who promise most perform the least. Men who do much\nin the world have no programme at first, their course works itself out\nby its own inner force by the grace of God; they do not propose but\nperform. They do not plough all day to sow, but they are like our Lord's\nservant in the parable of whom he saith, \"the sower went forth to sow.\"\n\nLet the ministers of Christ also follow the rule of advance. _Let us go\nfrom preaching the law to preaching the gospel._ \"Doth the ploughman\nplough all day?\" He does plough; he would not sow in hope if he had not\nfirst prepared the ground. Robbie Flockart, who preached for years in\nthe Edinboro' streets, says, \"It is in vain to sew with the silk thread\nof the gospel, unless you use the sharp needle of the law.\" Some of my\nbrethren do not care to preach eternal wrath and its terrors. This is a\ncruel mercy, for they ruin souls by hiding from them their ruin. If they\nmust needs try to sew without a needle, I cannot help it; but I do not\nmean to be so foolish myself; my needle may be old-fashioned, but it is\nsharp, and when it carries with it the silken thread of the gospel, I am\nsure good work is done by it. You cannot get a harvest if you are afraid\nof disturbing the soil, nor can you save souls if you never warn them of\nhell fire. We must tell the sinner what God has revealed about sin,\nrighteousness, and judgment to come. Still, brethren, we must not plough\nall day. No, no, the preaching of the law is only preparatory to the\npreaching of the gospel. The stress of our business lies in proclaiming\nglad tidings. We are not followers of John the Baptist, but of Jesus\nChrist; we are not rugged prophets of woe, but joyful heralds of grace.\nBe not satisfied with revival services, and stirring appeals, but preach\nthe doctrines of grace so as to bring out the full compass of covenant\ntruth. Ploughing has had its turn, now for planting and watering.\nReproof may now give place to consolation. We are first to make\ndisciples of men, and then to teach them to observe all things\nwhatsoever Jesus has commanded us. We must pass on from the rudiments to\nthe higher truths, from laying foundations to further upbuilding.\n\nAnd now, another lesson to those of you who are as yet hearers and\nnothing more. I want you to go from ploughing to something better,\nnamely, _from hearing and fearing to believing_. How many years some of\nyou have been hearing the gospel! Do you mean to continue in that state\nfor ever? Will you never believe in him of whom you hear so much? You\nhave been stirred up a good deal; the other night you went home almost\nbroken-hearted; I should think you are ploughed enough by this time; and\nyet you have not received the seed of eternal life, for you have not\nbelieved in the Lord Jesus. It is dreadful to be always on the brink of\neverlasting life, and yet never to be alive. It will be an awful thing\nto be almost in heaven, and yet forever shut out. It is a wretched thing\nto rush into a railway station just in time to see the train steaming\nout; I had much rather be half-an-hour behind time. To lose a train by\nhalf-a-second is most annoying. Alas, if you go on as you have done for\nyears, you will have your hand on the latch of heaven, and yet be shut\nout. You will be within a hair's-breadth of glory, and yet be covered\nwith eternal shame. O beware of being so near to the kingdom, and yet\nlost; almost, but not altogether saved. God grant that you may not be\namong those who are ploughed, and ploughed, and ploughed, and yet never\nsown. It will be of no avail at the last to cry, \"Lord, we have eaten\nand drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. We had a\nseat at the chapel, we attended the services on week-nights as well as\non Sundays, we went to prayer-meetings, we joined a Bible-class, we\ndistributed tracts, we subscribed our guinea to the funds, we gave up\nevery open sin, we used a form of prayer, and read a chapter of the\nBible every day.\" All these things may be done, and yet there may be no\nsaving faith in the Lord Jesus. Take heed lest your Lord should answer,\n\"With all this, your heart never came to me; therefore, depart from me,\nI never knew you.\" If Jesus once knows a man he always knows him. He can\nnever say to _me_, \"I never knew you,\" for he has known me, as his poor\ndependant, a beggar for years at his door. Some of you have been all\nthat is good except that you never came into contact with Christ, never\ntrusted him, never knew him. Ah me, how sad your state! Will it be\nalways so?\n\nLastly, I would say to you who are being ploughed and are agitated about\nyour souls, Go at once to the next stage of believing. Oh! if people did\nbut know how simple a thing believing is, surely they would believe.\nAlas, they do not know it, and it becomes all the more difficult to them\nbecause in itself it is so easy. The difficulty of believing lies in\nthere being no difficulty in it. \"If the prophet had bid thee do some\ngreat thing, wouldst thou not have done it?\" Oh, yes, you would have\ndone it, and you would have thought it easy too; but when he simply\nsays, \"Wash, and be clean,\" there is a difficulty with pride and self.\nIf you can truly say that you are willing to abase your pride, and do\nanything which the Lord bids you, then I pray you understand that there\nis no further preparation required, and believe in Jesus at once. May\nthe Holy Spirit make you sick of self, and ready to accept the gospel.\nThe word is nigh thee, let it be believed; it is in thy mouth, let it be\nswallowed down; it is in thy heart, let it be trusted. With your heart\nbelieve in Jesus, and with your mouth make confession of him, and you\nshall be saved. A main part of faith lies in the giving up of all other\nconfidences. O give up at once every false hope. I tried once to show\nwhat faith was by quoting Dr. Watts's lines:\n\n  \"A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,\n    On thy kind arms I fall.\n  Be thou my strength, and righteousness,\n    My Jesus and my all.\"\n\nI tried to represent faith as falling into Christ's arms, and I thought\nI made it so plain that the wayfaring man could not err therein. When I\nhad finished preaching, a young man came to me and said, \"But, sir, I\ncannot fall upon Christ's arms.\" I replied at once, \"Tumble into them\nanyhow; faint away into Christ's arms, or die into Christ's arms, so\nlong as you get there.\" Many talk of what they can do and what they\ncannot do, and I fear they miss the vital point. Faith is leaving off\ncan-ing and cannot-ing, and leaving it all to Christ, for _he_ can do\nall things, though you can do nothing. \"Doth the ploughman plough all\nday to sow?\" No, he makes progress, and goes from ploughing to sowing.\nGo, and do thou likewise; sow unto the Spirit the precious seed of faith\nin Christ, and the Lord will give thee a joyous harvest.\n\n\n\n\nPLOUGHING THE ROCK.\n\n\"Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plough there with oxen?\"--AMOS\n6:12.\n\n\nTHESE expressions are proverbs, taken from the familiar sayings of the\neast country. A proverb is generally a sword with two edges, or, if I\nmay so say, it has many edges, or is all edge, and hence it may be\nturned this way and that way, and every part of it will have force and\npoint. A proverb has often many bearings, and you cannot always tell\nwhat was the precise meaning of him who uttered it. The connection would\nabundantly tolerate two senses in this place. An ancient commentator\nasserts that it has seven meanings, and that any one of them would be\nconsistent with the context. I cannot deny the assertion, and if it be\ncorrect it is only one among many instances of the manifold wisdom of\nthe Word of God. Like those curiously carved Chinese balls in which\nthere is one ball within another, so in many a holy text there is sense\nwithin sense, teaching within teaching, and each one worthy of the\nSpirit of God.\n\nThe first sense of the text upon which I would say just a word or two is\nthis: The prophet is expostulating with ungodly men upon their _pursuit\nof happiness where it never can be found_. They were endeavoring to grow\nrich and great and strong by oppression. The prophet says, \"Ye have\nturned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock.\"\nJustice was bought and sold among them, and the book of the law was made\nthe instrument of fraud. \"Yet,\" says the prophet, \"there is no gain to\nbe gotten in this way--no real profit, no true happiness. As well may\nhorses run upon a rock, and oxen plough the sand; it is labor in vain.\"\n\nIf any of you try to content yourselves with this world, any hope to\nfind a heaven in the midst of your business and your family without\nlooking upward for it, you labor in vain. If you hope to find pleasure\nin sin, and think that it will go well with you if you despise the law\nof God, you will make a great mistake. You might as well seek for roses\nin the grottoes of the sea, or look for pearls on the pavements of the\ncity. You will find what your soul requires nowhere but in God. To seek\nafter happiness in evil deeds is to plough a rock of granite. To labor\nafter true prosperity by dishonest means is as useless as to till the\nsandy shore. \"Wherefore do you spend your money for that which is not\nbread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not?\" Young man, you are\nkilling yourself with ambition; you seek your own honor and emolument,\nand this is a poor, poor object for an immortal soul. And you, too, sir,\nare wearing out your life with care; your mind and body both fail you in\nendeavoring to amass riches, as if a man's life consisted in the\nabundance of the things which he possesses; you are ploughing a rock;\nyour cares will not bring you joy of heart or content of spirit; your\ntoil will end in failure. And you, too, who labor to weave a\nrighteousness by your works apart from Christ and fancy that with the\ndiligent use of outward ceremonies you may be able to do the work of the\nHoly Spirit upon your own heart, you, too, are ploughing thankless\nrock. The strength of fallen nature exerted at its utmost can never save\na soul. Why, then, plough the rock any longer? Give over the foolish\ntask.\n\nSo far, I believe, we have not misread the text, but have mentioned a\nvery probable meaning of the words; still another strikes me, which I\nthink equally suitable, and upon it I shall dwell, by God's help.\n\nIt is this. _God will not always send his ministers to call men to\nrepentance._ When men's hearts remain obdurate, and they do not and will\nnot repent, then God will not always deal with them in mercy. \"My Spirit\nshall not always strive with man.\" There is a time of ploughing, but\nwhen it is evident that the heart is wilfully hardened, then wisdom\nitself suggests to mercy that she should give over her efforts. \"Shall\nhorses run upon the rock? will one plough there with oxen?\" No, there is\na limit to the efforts of kindness, and in fulness of time the labor\nceases, and the rock remains unploughed henceforth and for ever.\n\n\nI. Taking that sense, we shall speak upon it, and remark, first, that\nMINISTERS LABOR TO BREAK UP MEN'S HEARTS; the wise preacher tries by the\npower of the Holy Ghost to break up the hard clods of the heart, so that\nit may receive the heavenly seed.\n\nMany truths are used like sharp ploughshares to break up the heart. Men\nmust be made to feel that they have sinned, and they must be led to\nrepent of sin. They must receive Christ, not with the head only, but\nwith the heart; for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.\nThere must be emotion; we must cut into the heart with the ploughshare\nof the law. A farmer who is too tender-hearted to tear and harrow the\nland will never see a harvest. Here is the failing of certain divines,\nthey are afraid of hurting any one's feelings, and so they keep clear of\nall the truths which are likely to excite fear or grief. They have not a\nsharp ploughshare on their premises, and are never likely to have a\nstack in their rickyard. They angle without hooks for fear of hurting\nthe fish, and fire without bullets out of respect to the feelings of the\nbirds. This kind of love is real cruelty to men's souls. It is much the\nsame as if a surgeon should permit a patient to die because he would not\npain him with the lancet, or by the necessary removal of a limb. It is a\nterrible tenderness which leaves men to sink into hell rather than\ndistress their minds. It is pleasant to prophesy smooth things, but woe\nunto the man who thus degrades himself. Is this the spirit of Christ?\nDid he conceal the sinner's peril? Did he cast doubt upon the\nunquenchable fire and the undying worm? Did he lull souls into slumber\nby smooth strains of flattery? Nay, but with honest love and anxious\nconcern he warned men of the wrath to come, and bade them repent or\nperish. Let the servant of the Lord Jesus in this thing follow his\nMaster, and plough deep with a sharp ploughshare, which will not be\nbalked by the hardest clods. This we must school ourselves to do. If we\nreally love the souls of men, let us prove it by honest speech. The hard\nheart must be broken, or it will still refuse the Saviour who was sent\nto bind up the broken-hearted. There are some things which men may or\nmay not have, and yet may be saved; but those things which go with the\nploughing of the heart are indispensable; there must be a holy fear and\na humble trembling before God; there must be an acknowledgment of guilt\nand a penitent petition for mercy; there must, in a word, be a thorough\nploughing of the soul before we can expect the seed to bring forth\nfruit.\n\n\nII. But the text indicates to us that AT TIMES MINISTERS LABOR IN VAIN.\n\"Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plough there with oxen?\" In a\nshort time a ploughman feels whether the plough will go or not, and so\ndoes the minister. He may use the very same words in one place which he\nhas used in another, but he feels in the one place great joy and\nhopefulness in preaching, while with another audience he has heavy work,\nand little hope. The plough in the last case seems to jump out of the\nfurrow; and a bit of the share is broken off now and then. He says to\nhimself, \"I do not know how it is, but I do not get on at this,\" and he\nfinds that his Master has sent him to work upon a particularly heavy\nsoil. All laborers for Christ know that this is occasionally the case.\nYou must have found it so in a Sunday-school class, or in a cottage\nmeeting, or in any other gathering where you have tried to teach and\npreach Jesus. You have said to yourself every now and then, \"Now I am\nploughing a rock. Before, I turned up rich mould which a yoke of oxen\nmight plough with ease, and a horse might even run at the work; but now\nthe horse may tug, and the oxen may wearily toil till they gall their\nshoulders, but they cannot cut a furrow; the rock is stubborn to the\nlast degree.\"\n\nThere are such hearers in all congregations. They are as iron, and yet\nthey are side by side with a fine plot of ground. Their sister, their\nbrother, their son, their daughter, all these have readily felt the\npower of the gospel; but _they_ do not feel it. They hear it\nrespectfully; and they so far allow it free course that they permit it\nto go in at one ear and out at the other, but they will have nothing\nmore to do with it. They would not like to be Sabbath-breakers and stop\naway from worship; they therefore do the gospel the questionable\ncompliment of coming where it is preached and then refusing to regard\nit. They are hard, hard, hard bits of rock, the plough does not touch\nthem.\n\nMany, on the other hand, are equally hard; but it is in another way. The\nimpression made by the word is not deep or permanent. They receive it\nwith joy, but they do not retain it. They listen with attention, but it\nnever comes to practice with them. They hear about repentance, but they\nnever repent. They hear about faith, but they never believe. They are\ngood judges of what the gospel is, and yet they have never accepted it\nfor themselves. They will not eat; but still they insist that good bread\nshall be put on the table. They are great sticklers for the very things\nwhich they personally reject. They are moved to feeling; they shed tears\noccasionally; but still their hearts are not really broken up by the\nword. They go their way, and forget what manner of men they are. They\nare rocky-hearted through and through; all our attempts to plough them\nare failures.\n\nNow this is all the worse, because certain of these rocky-hearted people\nhave been ploughed for years, and have become harder instead of softer.\nOnce or twice ploughing, and a broken share or two, and a disappointed\nploughman or two, we might not mind, if they would yield at last; but\nthese have since their childhood known the gospel and never given way\nbefore its power. It is a good while since their childhood now with some\nof them. Their hair is turning gray, and they themselves are getting\nfeeble with years. They have been entreated and persuaded times beyond\nnumber, but labor has been lost upon them. In fact, they used to feel\nthe word, in a certain fashion, far more years ago than they do now. The\nsun, which softens wax, hardens clay, and the same gospel which has\nbrought others to tenderness and repentance has exercised a contrary\neffect upon them, and made them more careless about divine things than\nthey were in their youth. This is a mournful state of things, is it not?\n\nWhy are certain men so extremely rocky? Some are so from a _peculiar\nstolidity of nature_. There are many people in the world whom you cannot\nvery well move, they have a great deal of granite in their constitution,\nand are more nearly related to Mr. Obstinate than to Mr. Pliable. Now, I\ndo not think badly of these people, because one knows what it is to\npreach to an excitable people, and to get them all stirred, and to know\nthat in the end they are none the better; whereas some of the more\nstolid and immovable people when they are moved are moved indeed; when\nthey do feel they feel intensely, and they retain any impression that is\nmade. A little chip made in granite by very hard blows will abide there,\nwhile the lashing of water, which is easy enough, will leave no trace\neven for a moment. It is a grand thing to get hold of a fine piece of\nrock and to exercise faith about it. The Lord's own hammer has mighty\npower to break, and in the breaking great glory comes to the Most High.\n\nWorse still, certain men are hard because of their _infidelity_--not\nheart-infidelity all of it, but an infidelity which springs out of a\ndesire not to believe, which has helped them to discover difficulties.\nThese difficulties exist, and were meant to exist, for there would be no\nroom for faith if everything were as plain as the nose on one's face.\nThese persons have gradually come to doubt, or to think that they doubt,\nessential truths, and this renders them impervious to the gospel of\nChrist.\n\nA much more numerous body are orthodox enough, but hard-hearted for all\nthat. _Worldliness_ hardens a man in every way. It often dries up all\ncharity to the poor, because the man must make money, and he thinks that\nthe poor-rates are sufficient excuse for neglecting the offices of\ncharity. He has no time to think of the next world; he must spend all\nhis thoughts upon the present one. Money is tight, and therefore he must\nhold it tight; and when money brings in little interest, he finds\ntherein a reason for being the more niggardly. He has no time for\nprayer, he _must_ get down to the counting-house. He has no time for\nreading his Bible, his ledger wants him. You may knock at his door, but\nhis heart is not at home; it is in the counting-house, wherein he lives\nand moves and has his being. His god is his gold, his bliss is his\nbusiness, his all in all is himself. What is the use of preaching to\nhim? As well may horses run upon a rock, or oxen drag a plough across a\nfield sheeted with iron a mile thick.\n\nWith some, too, there is a hardness, produced by what I might almost\ncall the opposite of stern worldliness, namely, a _general levity_. They\nare naturally butterflies flitting about and doing nothing. They never\nthink, or want to think. Half a thought exhausts them, and they must\nneeds be diverted, or their feeble minds will utterly weary. They live\nin a round of amusement. To them the world is a stage, and all the men\nand women only players. It is of little use to preach to them; there is\nno depth of earth in their superficial nature; beneath a sprinkling of\nshifting worthless sand lies an impenetrable rock of utter stupidity and\nsenselessness. I might thus multiply reasons why some are harder than\nothers, but it is a well-assured fact that they are so, and there I\nleave the matter.\n\n\nIII. I shall now ask everybody to judge whether the running of horses\nupon a rock and the ploughing there with oxen shall always be continued.\nI assert that IT IS UNREASONABLE TO EXPECT THAT GOD'S SERVANTS SHOULD\nALWAYS CONTINUE TO LABOR IN VAIN. These people have been preached to,\ntaught, instructed, admonished, expostulated with, and advised; shall\nthis unrecompensed work be always performed? We have given them a fair\ntrial; what do reason and prudence say? Are we bound to persevere till\nwe are worn out by this unsuccessful work? We will ask it of men who\nplough their own farms; do they recommend perseverance when failure is\ncertain? Shall horses run upon the rock? Shall one plough there with\noxen? Surely not for ever.\n\nI think we shall all agree that labor in vain cannot be continued for\never if we consider _the ploughman_. He does not want to be much\nconsidered; but still his Master does not overlook him. See how weary he\ngrows when the work discourages him. He goes to his Master with, \"Who\nhath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?\"\n\"Why hast thou sent me,\" says he, \"to a people that have ears but hear\nnot? They sit as thy people sit, and they hear as thy people hear, and\nthen they go their way and they forget every word that is spoken, and\nthey obey not the voice of the Lord.\" See how disappointed the preacher\nbecomes. It is always hard work when you appear to get no forwarder,\nalthough you do your utmost. No man, whoever he may be, likes to be set\nupon work which appears to be altogether a waste of time and effort. To\nhis own mind it seems to have a touch of the ridiculous about it, and he\nfears that he will be despised of his fellows for aiming at the\nimpossible. Shall it always be the lot of God's ministers to be trifled\nwith? Will the great Husbandman bid his ploughmen spill their lives for\nnought? Must his preachers continue to cast pearls before swine? If the\nconsecrated workers are so bidden by their Lord they will persevere in\ntheir painful task; but their Master is considerate of them, and I ask\n_you_ also to consider whether it is reasonable to expect a zealous\nheart to be for ever occupied with the salvation of those who never\nrespond to its anxiety? Shall the horses always plough upon the rock?\nShall the oxen always labor there?\n\nAgain, there is _the Master_ to be considered. The Lord--is he always to\nbe resisted and provoked? Many of you have had eternal life set before\nyou as the result of believing in Jesus; and you have refused to\nbelieve. It is a wonder that my Lord has not said to me, \"You have done\nyour duty with them; never set Christ before them again; my Son shall\nnot be insulted.\" If you offer a beggar in the street a shilling and he\nwill not have it, you cheerfully put it into your purse and go your way;\nyou do not entreat him to have his wants relieved. But, behold, our God\nin mercy begs sinners to come to him, and implores them to accept his\nSon. In his condescension he even stands like a salesman in the market,\ncrying, \"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he\nthat hath no money; come, buy wine and milk without money and without\nprice.\" In another place he says of himself, \"All day long have I\nstretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying generation.\" If\nthe Lord of mercy has been refused so long in the sight of you who\nreverence him, does not some indignation mingle with your pity, and\nwhile you love sinners and would have them saved, do you not feel in\nyour heart that there must be an end to such insulting behavior? I ask\neven the careless to think of the matter in this light, and if they do\nnot respect the ploughman, yet let them have regard to his Master.\n\nAnd then, again, there are so many _other people_ who are needing the\ngospel, and who would receive it if they had it, that it would seem to\nbe wise to leave off wearying oneself about those who despise it. What\ndid our Lord say? He said that if the mighty things which had been done\nin Bethsaida and Chorazin had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would\nhave repented. What is more wonderful still, he says that if he had\nwrought the same miracles in Sodom and Gomorrah which were wrought in\nCapernaum, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. Does it not\noccur to us at once to give the word to those who will have it, and\nleave the despisers to perish in their own wilfulness? Does not reason\nsay, \"Let us send this medicine where there are sick people who will\nvalue it?\" Thousands of people are willing to hear the gospel. See how\nthey crowd wherever the preacher goes--how they tread upon one another\nin their anxiety to listen to him; and if these people who hear him\nevery day will not receive his message, \"in God's name,\" saith he, \"let\nme go where there is a probability of finding soil that can be\nploughed.\" \"Shall horses run upon the rock? Will one plough there with\noxen?\" Must I work always where nothing comes of it? Does not reason\nsay, let the word go to China, to Hindostan, or to the utmost parts of\nthe earth, where they will receive it; for those who have it preached in\nthe corners of their streets despise it?\n\nI shall not lengthen this argument, but shall solemnly put the question\nagain. Would any of you continue to pursue an object when it has proved\nto be hopeless? Do you wonder that when the Lord has sent his servants\nto speak kind, gracious, tender words, and men have not heard, he says\nto them, \"They are joined unto their idols; let them alone\"? There is a\nboundary to the patience of men, and we soon arrive at it; and assuredly\nthere is a limit, though it is long before we outrun it, to the patience\nof God. \"At length,\" he says, \"it is enough. My Spirit shall no longer\nstrive with them.\" If the Lord says this can any of us complain? Is not\nthis the way of wisdom? Does not prudence itself dictate it? Any\nthoughtful mind will say, \"Ay, ay, a rock cannot be ploughed for ever.\"\n\n\nIV. Fourthly. THERE MUST BE AN ALTERATION, then, and that speedily. The\noxen shall be taken off from such toil. It can be easily done, and done\nsoon. It can be effected in three ways.\n\nFirst, the unprofitable hearer can be removed so that he shall no more\nhear the gospel from the lips of his best approved minister. There is a\npreacher who has some sort of power over him; but as he rejects his\ntestimony, and remains impenitent, the man shall be removed to another\ntown, where he shall hear monotonous discourses which will not touch\nhis conscience. He shall go where he shall be no longer persuaded and\nentreated; and there he will sleep himself into hell. That may be\nreadily enough done; perhaps some of you are making arrangements even\nnow for your own removal from the field of hope.\n\nAnother way is to take away the ploughman. He has done his work as best\nhe could, and he shall be released from his hopeless task. He is weary.\nLet him go home. The soil would not break up, but he could not help\nthat; let him have his wage. He has broken his plough at the work; let\nhim go home and hear his Lord say, \"Well done.\" He was willing to keep\non at the disheartening labor as long as his Master bade him; but it is\nevidently useless, therefore let him go home, for his work is done. He\nhas been sore sick, let him die, and enter into his rest. This is by no\nmeans improbable.\n\nOr, there may happen something else. The Lord may say, \"That piece of\nwork shall never trouble the ploughman any more. I will take it away.\"\nAnd he may take it away in this fashion: the man who has heard the\ngospel, but rejected it, will die. I pray my Master that he will not\nsuffer any one of you to die in your sins, for then we cannot reach you\nany more, or indulge the faintest hope for you. No prayer of ours can\nfollow you into eternity. There is one name by which you may be saved,\nand that name is sounded in your ears--the name of Jesus; but if you\nreject him now, even that name will not save you. If you do not take\nJesus to be your Saviour he will appear as your judge. I pray you, do\nnot destroy your own souls by continuing to be obstinate against\nalmighty love.\n\nGod grant that some better thing may happen. Can nothing else be done?\nThis soil is rock; can we not sow it without breaking it? No. Without\nrepentance there is no remission of sin. But is there not a way of\nsaving men without the grace of God? The Lord Jesus did not say so; but\nhe said, \"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that\nbelieveth not shall be damned.\" He did not hint at a middle course or\nhold out a \"larger hope;\" but he declared \"He that believeth not shall\nbe damned,\" _and so he must be_. Dream not of a back door to heaven, for\nthe Lord has provided none.\n\nWhat then? Shall the preacher continue his fruitless toil? If there is\nonly half a hope left him, he is willing to go on and say, \"Hear, ye\ndeaf, and see, ye blind, and live, ye dead.\" He will even so speak this\nday, for his Master bids him preach the gospel to every creature; but it\nwill be hard work to repeat the word of exhortation for years to those\nwho will not hear it.\n\nHappily there is one other turn which affairs may take. There is a God\nin heaven, let us pray to him to put forth his power. Jesus is at his\nside, let us invoke his interposition. The Holy Ghost is almighty, let\nus call for his aid. Brothers who plough and sisters who pray, cry to\nthe Master for help. The horse and the ox evidently fail, but there\nremains One above who is able to work great marvels. Did he not once\nspeak to the rock, and turn the flint into a stream of water? Let us\npray him to do the same now.\n\nAnd, oh, if there is one who feels and mourns that his heart is like a\npiece of rock, I am glad he feels it; for he who feels that his heart is\na rock gives some evidence that the flint is being transformed. O rock,\ninstead of smiting thee, as Moses smote the rock in the wilderness and\nerred therein, I would speak to thee. O rock, wouldst thou become like\nwax? O rock, wouldst thou dissolve into rivers of repentance? Hearken to\nGod's voice! O rock, break with good desire! O rock, dissolve with\nlonging after Christ, for God is working upon thee now. Who knows but at\nthis very moment thou shall begin to crumble down. Dost thou feel the\npower of the Word? Does the sharp ploughshare touch thee just now? Break\nand break again, till by contrition thou art dissolved, for then will\nthe good seed of the gospel come to thee, and thou shalt receive it into\nthy bosom, and we shall all behold the fruit thereof. And so I will\nfling one more handful of good corn, and have done. If thou desirest\neternal life, trust Jesus Christ, and thou art saved at once. \"Look unto\nme, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth,\" says Christ, \"for I am\nGod, and beside me there is none else.\" He that believeth in him hath\neverlasting life. \"Like as Moses lifted up the serpent in the\nwilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever\nbelieveth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.\"\n\nO Lord, break up the rock, and let the seed drop in among its broken\nsubstance, and get thou a harvest from the dissolved granite, at this\ntime, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PARABLE OF THE SOWER.\n\n\"And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out\nof every city, he spake by a parable: a sower went out to sow his seed:\nand as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and\nthe fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon\nas it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And\nsome fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.\nAnd other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an\nhundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath\nears to hear, let him hear.\"--LUKE 8:4-8.\n\n\nIN our country, when a sower goes forth to his work, he generally enters\ninto an enclosed field, and scatters the seed from his basket along\nevery ridge and furrow; but in the East, the corn-growing country, hard\nby a small town, is usually an open area. It is divided into different\nproperties, but there are no visible divisions, except the ancient\nlandmarks, or perhaps ridges of stones. Through these open lands there\nare footpaths, the most frequented being called the highways. You must\nnot imagine these highways to be like our macadamized roads; they are\nmerely paths, trodden tolerably hard. Here and there you notice by-ways,\nalong which travellers who wish to avoid the public road may journey\nwith a little more safety when the main road is infested with robbers;\nhasty travellers also strike out short cuts for themselves, and so open\nfresh tracks for others. When the sower goes forth to sow he finds a\nplot of ground scratched over with the primitive Eastern plough; he\naims at scattering his seed there most plentifully; but a path runs\nthrough the centre of his field, and unless he is willing to leave a\nbroad headland, he must throw a handful upon it. Yonder, a rock crops\nout in the midst of the ploughed land, and the seed falls on its shallow\nsoil. Here is a corner full of the roots of nettles and thistles, and he\nflings a little here; the corn and the nettles come up together, and the\nthorns being the stronger soon choke the seed, so that it brings forth\nno fruit unto perfection. The recollection that the Bible was written in\nthe East, and that its metaphors and allusions must be explained to us\nby Eastern travellers, will often help us to understand a passage far\nbetter than if we think of English customs.\n\nThe preacher of the gospel is like the sower. He does not make his seed;\nit is given him by his divine Master. No man could create the smallest\ngrain that ever grew upon the earth, much less the celestial seed of\neternal life. The minister goes to his Master in secret, and asks him to\nteach him his gospel, and thus he fills his basket with the good seed of\nthe kingdom. He then goes forth in his Master's name and scatters\nprecious truth. If he knew where the best soil was to be found, perhaps\nhe might limit himself to that which had been prepared by the plough of\nconviction; but not knowing men's hearts, it is his business to preach\nthe gospel to every creature--to throw a handful on the hardened heart,\nand another on the mind which is overgrown with the cares and pleasures\nof the world. He has to leave the seed in the care of the Lord who gave\nit to him, for he is not responsible for the harvest, he is only\naccountable for the care and industry with which he does his work. If no\nsingle ear should ever make glad the reaper, the sower will be rewarded\nby his Master if he had planted the right seed with careful hand. If it\nwere not for this fact with what despairing agony should we utter the\ncry of Esaias, \"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of\nthe Lord revealed?\"\n\nOur duty is not measured by the character of our hearers, but by the\ncommand of our God. We are bound to preach the gospel, whether men will\nhear, or whether they will forbear. It is ours to sow beside all waters.\nLet men's hearts be what they may the minister must preach the gospel to\nthem; he must sow the seed on the rock as well as in the furrow, on the\nhighway as well as in the ploughed field.\n\nI shall now address myself to the four classes of hearers mentioned in\nour Lord's parable. We have, first of all, those who are represented by\nthe _way-side_, those who are \"hearers only\"; then those represented by\nthe _stony ground_; these are transiently impressed, but the word\nproduces no lasting fruit; then, those _among thorns_, on whom a good\nimpression is produced, but the cares of this life, and the\ndeceitfulness of riches, and the pleasures of the world choke the seed;\nand lastly, that small class--God be pleased to multiply it\nexceedingly--that small class of _good ground_ hearers, in whom the Word\nbrings forth abundant fruit.\n\n\nI. First of all, I address myself to those hearts which are like the\nWAY-SIDE: \"Some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the\nfowls of the air devoured it.\" Many of you do not go to the place of\nworship desiring a blessing. You do not intend to worship God, or to be\naffected by anything that you hear. You are like the highway, which was\nnever intended to be a cornfield. If a single grain of truth should fall\ninto your heart and grow it would be as great a wonder as for corn to\ngrow up in the street. If the seed shall be dexterously scattered, some\nof it will fall upon you, and rest for a while upon your thoughts. 'Tis\ntrue you will not understand it; but, nevertheless, if it be placed\nbefore you in an interesting style, you will talk about it till some\nmore congenial entertainment shall attract you. Even this slender\nbenefit is brief, for in a little season you will forget all that you\nhave heard. Would to God we could hope that our words would tarry with\nyou; but we cannot hope it, for the soil of your heart is so hard beaten\nby continual traffic, that there is no hope of the seed finding a living\nroot-hold. Satan is constantly passing over your heart with his company\nof blasphemies, lusts, lies, and vanities. The chariots of pride roll\nalong it, and the feet of greedy mammon tread it till it is hard as\nadamant. Alas! for the good seed, it finds not a moment's respite;\ncrowds pass and repass; in fact, your soul is an exchange, across which\ncontinually hurry the busy feet of those who make merchandise of the\nsouls of men. You are buying and selling, but you little think that you\nare selling the truth, and that you are buying your soul's destruction.\nYou have no time, you say, to think of religion. No, the road of your\nheart is such a crowded thoroughfare, that there is no room for the\nwheat to spring up. If it did begin to germinate, some rough foot would\ncrush the green blade ere it could come to perfection. The seed has\noccasionally lain long enough to begin to sprout, but just then a new\nplace of amusement has been opened, and you have entered there, and as\nwith an iron heel, the germ of life that was in the seed was crushed\nout. Corn could not grow in Cornhill or Cheapside, however excellent the\nseed might be; your heart is just like those crowded thoroughfares; for\nso many cares and sins throng it, and so many proud, vain, evil,\nrebellious thoughts against God pass through it, that the seed of truth\ncannot grow.\n\nWe have looked at this hard roadside, let us now describe what becomes\nof the good word, when it falls upon such a heart. It would have grown\nif it had fallen on right soil, but it has dropped into the wrong place,\nand it remains as dry as when it fell from the sower's hand. The word of\nthe gospel lies upon the surface of such a heart, but never enters it.\nLike the snow, which sometimes falls upon our streets, drops upon the\nwet pavement, melts, and is gone at once, so is it with this man. The\nword has not time to quicken in his soul; it lies there an instant, but\nit never strikes root, or takes the slightest effect.\n\nWhy do men come to hear if the word never enters their hearts? That has\noften puzzled us. Some hearers would not be absent on the Sunday on any\naccount; they are delighted to come up with us to worship, but yet the\ntear never trickles down their cheek, their soul never mounts up to\nheaven on the wings of praise, nor do they truly join in our confessions\nof sin. They do not think of the wrath to come, nor of the future state\nof their souls. Their heart is as iron; the minister might as well speak\nto a heap of stones as preach to them. What brings these senseless\nsinners here? Surely we are as hopeful of converting lions and leopards\nas these untamed, insensible hearts. Oh feeling! thou art fled to\nbrutish beasts, and men have lost their reason! Do these people come to\nour assemblies because it is respectable to attend a place of worship?\nOr is it that their coming helps to make them comfortable in their sins?\nIf they stopped away conscience would prick them; but they come hither\nthat they may flatter themselves with the notion that they are\nreligious. Oh! my hearers, your case is one that might make an angel\nweep! How sad to have the sun of the gospel shining on your faces, and\nyet to have blind eyes that never see the light! The music of heaven is\nlost upon you, for you have no ears to hear. You can catch the turn of a\nphrase, you can appreciate the poetry of an illustration, but the hidden\nmeaning, the divine life, you do not perceive. You sit at the\nmarriage-feast, but you eat not of the dainties; the bells of heaven\nring with joy over ransomed spirits, but you live unransomed, without\nGod, and without Christ. Though we plead with you, and pray for you, and\nweep over you, you still remain as hardened, as careless, and as\nthoughtless as ever you were. May God have mercy on you, and break up\nyour hard hearts, that his word may abide in you.\n\nWe have not, however, completed the picture. The passage tells us that\nthe fowls of the air devoured the seed. Is there here a wayside hearer?\nPerhaps he did not mean to hear this sermon, and when he has heard it he\nwill be asked by one of the wicked to come into company. He will go with\nthe tempter, and the good seed will be devoured by the fowls of the air.\nPlenty of evil ones are ready to take away the gospel from the heart.\nThe devil himself, that prince of the air, is eager at any time to\nsnatch away a good thought. And then the devil is not alone--he has\nlegions of helpers. He can set a man's wife, children, friends,\nenemies, customers, or creditors, to eat up the good seed, and they will\ndo it effectually. Oh, sorrow upon sorrow, that heavenly seed should\nbecome devil's meat; that God's corn should feed foul birds!\n\nO my hearers, if you have heard the gospel from your youth, what\nwagon-loads of sermons have been wasted on you! In your younger days,\nyou heard old Dr. So-and-so, and the dear old man was wont to pray for\nhis hearers till his eyes were red with tears! Do you recollect those\nmany Sundays when you said to yourself, \"Let me go to my chamber and\nfall on my knees and pray\"? But you did not; the fowls of the air ate up\nthe seed, and you went on to sin as you had sinned before. Since then,\nby some strange impulse, you are very rarely absent from God's house;\nbut now the seed of the gospel falls into your soul as if it dropped\nupon an iron floor, and nothing comes of it. The law may be thundered at\nyou; you do not sneer at it, but it never affects you. Jesus Christ may\nbe lifted up; his dear wounds may be exhibited; his streaming blood may\nflow before your very eyes, and you may be bidden with all earnestness\nto look to him and live; but it is as if one should sow the sea-shore.\nWhat shall I do for you? Shall I stand here and rain tears upon this\nhard highway? Alas! my tears will not break it up; it is trodden too\nhard for that. Shall I bring the gospel plough? Alas! the ploughshare\nwill not enter ground so solid. What shall we do? O God, thou knowest\nhow to melt the hardest heart with the precious blood of Jesus. Do it\nnow, we beseech thee, and thus magnify thy grace, by causing the good\nseed to live, and to produce a heavenly harvest.\n\n\nII. I shall now turn to the second class of hearers: \"And some fell upon\na ROCK; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it\nlacked moisture.\" You can easily picture to yourselves that piece of\nrock in the midst of the field thinly veiled with soil; and of course\nthe seed falls there as it does everywhere else. It springs up, it\nhastens to grow, it withers, it dies. None but those who love the souls\nof men can tell what hopes, what joys, and what bitter disappointments\nthese stony places have caused us. We have a class of hearers whose\nhearts are hard, and yet they are apparently the softest and most\nimpressible of men. While other men see nothing in the sermon, these men\nweep. Whether you preach the terrors of the law or the love of Calvary,\nthey are alike stirred in their souls, and the liveliest impressions are\napparently produced. Such may be listening now. They have resolved, but\nthey have procrastinated. They are not the sturdy enemies of God who\nclothe themselves in steel, but they seem to bare their breasts, and lay\nthem open to the minister. Rejoiced in heart, we shoot our arrows there,\nand they appear to penetrate; but, alas, a secret armor blunts every\ndart, and no wound is felt. The parable speaks of this character thus:\n\"Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and\nforthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth.\" Or as\nanother passage explains it: \"And these are they likewise which are sown\non stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive\nit with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for\na time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's\nsake, immediately they are offended.\" Have we not thousands of hearers\nwho receive the word with joy? They have no deep convictions, but they\nleap into Christ on a sudden, and profess an instantaneous faith in him,\nand that faith has all the appearance of being genuine. When we look at\nit, the seed has really sprouted. There is a kind of life in it, there\nis apparently a green blade. We thank God that a sinner is brought back,\na soul is born to God. But our joy is premature; they sprang up on a\nsudden, and received the word with joy, because they had no depth of\nearth, and the self-same cause which hastened their reception of the\nseed also causes them, when the sun is risen with his fervent heat, to\nwither away. These men we see every day in the week. They come to join\nthe church; they tell us a story of how they heard us preach on\nsuch-and-such an occasion, and, oh, the word was so blessed to them,\nthey never felt so happy in their lives! \"Oh, sir, I thought I must leap\nfrom my seat when I heard about a precious Christ, and I believed on him\nthere and then; I am sure I did.\" We question them as to whether they\nwere ever convinced of sin. They think they were; but one thing they\nknow, they feel a great pleasure in religion. We put it to them. \"Do you\nthink you will hold on?\" They are confident that they shall. They hate\nthe things they once loved, they are sure they do. Everything has become\nnew to them. And all this is on a sudden. We enquire when the good work\nbegan. We find it began when it ended, that is to say, there was no\nprevious work, no ploughing of the soil, but on a sudden they sprang\nfrom death to life, as if a field should be covered with wheat by magic.\nPerhaps we receive them into the church; but in a week or two they are\nnot so regular as they used to be. We gently reprove them, and they\nexplain that they meet with such opposition in religion that they are\nobliged to yield a little. Another month and we lose them altogether.\nThe reason is that they have been laughed at or exposed to a little\nopposition, and they have gone back. And what, think you, are the\nfeelings of the minister? He is like the husbandman, who sees his field\nall green and flourishing, but at night a frost nips every shoot, and\nhis hoped-for gains are gone. The minister goes to his chamber, and\ncasts himself on his face before God, and cries, \"I have been deceived;\nmy converts are fickle, their religion has withered as the green herb.\"\nIn the ancient story Orpheus is said to have had such skill upon the\nlyre, that he made the oaks and stones to dance around him. It is a\npoetical fiction, and yet hath it sometimes happened to the minister,\nthat not only have the godly rejoiced, but men, like oaks and stones,\nhave danced from their places. Alas! they have been oaks and stones\nstill. Hushed is the lyre. The oak returns to its rooting-place, and the\nstone casts itself heavily to the earth. The sinner, who, like Saul, was\namong the prophets, goes back to plan mischief against the Most High.\n\nIf it is bad to be a wayside hearer, I cannot think it is much better to\nbe like the rock. This second class of hearers certainly gives us more\njoy than the first. A certain company always comes round a new minister;\nand I have often thought it is an act of God's kindness that he allows\nthese people to gather at the first, while the minister is young, and\nhas but few to stand by him; these persons are easily moved, and if the\nminister preaches earnestly they feel it, and they love him, and rally\nround him, much to his comfort. But time, that proves all things,\nproves them. They seemed to be made of true metal; but when they are put\ninto the fire to be tested, they are consumed in the furnace. Some of\nthe shallow kind are here now. I have looked at you when I have been\npreaching, and I have often thought, \"That man one of these days will\ncome out from the world, I am sure he will.\" I have thanked God for him.\nAlas, he is the same as ever. Years and years have we sowed him in vain,\nand it is to be feared it will be so to the end, for he is without\ndepth, and without the moisture of the Spirit. Shall it be so? Must I\nstand over the mouth of your open sepulchre, and think, \"Here lies a\nshoot which never became an ear, a man in whom grace struggled but never\nreigned, who gave some hopeful spasms of life and then subsided into\neternal death?\" God save you! Oh! may the Spirit deal with you\neffectually, and may you, even you, yet bring forth fruit unto God, that\nJesus may have a reward for his sufferings.\n\n\nIII. I shall briefly treat of the third class, and may the Spirit of God\nassist me to deal faithfully with you. \"And some fell among THORNS; and\nthe thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.\" Now, this was good soil.\nThe two first characters were bad; the wayside was not the proper place,\nthe rock was not a congenial situation for the growth of any plant; but\nthis is good soil, for it grows thorns. Wherever a thistle will spring\nup and flourish, there would wheat flourish too. This was fat, fertile\nsoil; it was no marvel therefore that the husbandman dealt largely\nthere, and threw handful after handful upon that corner of the field.\nSee how happy he is when in a month or two he visits the spot. The seed\nhas sprung up. True, there's a suspicious little plant down there of\nabout the same size as the wheat. \"Oh!\" he thinks, \"that's not much, the\ncorn will outgrow _that_. When it is stronger it will choke these few\nthistles that have unfortunately mixed with it.\" Ay, Mr. Husbandman, you\ndo not understand the force of evil, or you would not thus dream! He\ncomes again, and the seed has grown, there is even the corn in the ear;\nbut the thistles, the thorns, and the briers have become inter-twisted\nwith one another, and the poor wheat can hardly get a ray of sunshine.\nIt is so choked with thorns every way, that it looks quite yellow; the\nplant is starved. Still it perseveres in growing, and it does seem as if\nit would bring forth a little fruit. Alas, it never comes to anything.\nWith it the reaper never fills his arm.\n\nWe have this class very largely among us. These hear the word and\nunderstand what they hear. They take the truth home; they think it over;\nthey even go the length of making a profession of religion. The wheat\nseems to spring and ear; it will soon come to perfection. Be in no\nhurry, these men and women have a great deal to see after; they have the\ncares of a large concern; their establishment employs so many hundred\nhands; do not be deceived as to their godliness--they have no time for\nit. They will tell you that they must live; that they cannot neglect\nthis world; that they must anyhow look out for the present, and as for\nthe future, they will render it all due attention by-and-by. They\ncontinue to attend gospel-preaching, and the poor little stunted blade\nof religion keeps on growing after a fashion. Meanwhile they have grown\nrich, they come to the place of worship in a carriage, they have all\nthat heart can wish. Ah! now the seed will grow, will it not? No, no.\nThey have no cares now; the shop is given up, they live in the country;\nthey have not to ask, \"Where shall the money come from to meet the next\nbill?\" or \"how shall they be able to provide for an increasing family.\"\nNow they have too much instead of too little, for they have _riches_,\nand they are too wealthy to be gracious. \"But,\" says one, \"they might\nspend their riches for God.\" Certainly they might, but they do not, for\nriches are deceitful. They have to entertain much company, and chime in\nwith the world, and so Christ and his church are left in the lurch.\n\nYes, but they begin to spend their riches, and they have surely got over\nthat difficulty, for they give largely to the cause of Christ, and they\nare munificent in charity; the little blade will grow, will it not? No,\nfor now behold the thorns of pleasure. Their liberality to others\ninvolves liberality to themselves; their pleasures, amusements, and\nvanities choke the wheat of true religion; the good grains of gospel\ntruth cannot grow because they have to attend that musical party, that\nball, and that soir\u00e9e, and so they cannot think of the things of God. I\nknow several specimens of this class. I knew one, high in court circles,\nwho has confessed to me that he wished he were poor, for then he might\nenter the kingdom of heaven. He has said to me, \"Ah! sir, these\npolitics, these politics, I wish I were rid of them, they are eating the\nlife out of my heart. I cannot serve God as I would.\" I know of another,\noverloaded with riches, who has said to me, \"Ah! sir, it is an awful\nthing to be rich; one cannot keep close to the Saviour with all this\nearth about him.\"\n\nAh! my dear readers, I will not ask for you that God may lay you on a\nbed of sickness, that he may strip you of all your wealth, and bring\nyou to beggary; but, oh, if he were to do it, and you were to save your\nsouls, it would be the best bargain you could ever make. If those mighty\nones who now complain that the thorns choke the seed could give up all\ntheir riches and pleasures, if they that fare sumptuously every day\ncould take the place of Lazarus at the gate, it were a happy change for\nthem if their souls might be saved. A man may be honorable and rich, and\nyet go to heaven; but it will be hard work, for \"It is easier for a\ncamel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter\ninto the kingdom of heaven.\" God does make some rich men enter the\nkingdom of heaven, but hard is their struggle. Steady, young man,\nsteady! Hurry not to climb to wealth! It is a place where many heads are\nturned. Do not ask God to make you popular; they that have popularity\nare wearied by it. Cry with Agur, \"Give me neither poverty nor riches.\"\nGod give me to tread the golden mean, and may I ever have in my heart\nthat good seed, which shall bring forth fruit a hundredfold to his own\nglory.\n\n\nIV. I now close with the last character, namely, the GOOD GROUND. Of the\ngood soil, as you will mark, we have but one in four. Will one in four\nof our hearers, with well-prepared heart, receive the Word?\n\nThe ground is described as \"good\"; not that it was good by nature, but\nit had been made good by grace. God had ploughed it; he had stirred it\nup with the plough of conviction, and there it lay in ridge and furrow\nas it should lie. When the gospel was preached, the heart received it,\nfor the man said, \"That is just the blessing I want. Mercy is what a\nneedy sinner requires.\" So that the preaching of the gospel was THE\nthing to give comfort to this disturbed and ploughed soil. Down fell the\nseed to take good root. In some cases it produced fervency of love,\nlargeness of heart, devotedness of purpose of a noble kind, like seed\nwhich produces a hundredfold. The man became a mighty servant for God,\nhe spent himself and was spent. He took his place in the vanguard of\nChrist's army, stood in the hottest of the battle, and did deeds of\ndaring which few could accomplish--the seed produced a hundredfold. It\nfell into another heart of like character; the man could not do the\nmost, but still he did much. He gave himself to God, and in his business\nhe had a word to say for his Lord; in his daily walk he quietly adorned\nthe doctrine of God his Saviour--he brought forth sixtyfold. Then it\nfell on another, whose abilities and talents were but small; he could\nnot be a star, but he would be a glow-worm; he could not do as the\ngreatest, but he was content to do something, however humble. The seed\nhad brought forth in him tenfold, perhaps twentyfold. How many are there\nof this sort here? Is there one who prays within himself, \"God be\nmerciful to me a sinner\"? The seed has fallen in the right spot. Soul,\nthy prayer shall be heard. God never sets a man longing for mercy\nwithout intending to give it. Does another whisper, \"Oh that I might be\nsaved\"? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou, even thou, shalt be\nsaved. Hast thou been the chief of sinners? Trust Christ, and thy\nenormous sins shall vanish as the millstone sinks beneath the flood. Is\nthere no one here that will trust the Saviour? Can it be possible that\nthe Spirit is entirely absent? that he is not moving in one soul? not\nbegetting life in one spirit? We will pray that he may now descend, that\nthe word may not be in vain.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRINCIPAL WHEAT.\n\n\"The principal wheat.\"--ISAIAH 28:25.\n\n\nTHE prophet mentions it as a matter of wisdom on the part of the\nhusbandman, that HE KNOWS WHAT IS THE PRINCIPAL THING TO CULTIVATE, and\nmakes it his principal care. The text, with the connection, runs thus:\n\"Does not the husbandman cast in the principal wheat?\" He does not go to\nthe granary and take out wheat, and cummin, and barley, and rye, and\nfling these about right and left, but he estimates the value of each\ngrain, and arranges them in his mind accordingly. He does not think that\ncummin and caraway, which he merely grows to give a flavor to his meal,\nare of half such importance as his bread-corn; and, though rye and\nbarley have their values, yet he does not reckon that even these are\nequal to what he calls \"the principal wheat.\" He is a man of discretion,\nhe arranges things; he places the most important crop in the front rank,\nand spends upon it the most care.\n\nHere let us learn a lesson. Do keep things distinct in your minds--not\nhuddled and muddled by a careless thoughtlessness. Do not live a\nconfused life, without care and discretion, running all things into one;\nbut sort things out, and divide and distinguish between the precious and\nthe vile. See what this is worth, and what the other is worth, and set\nyour matters in rank and order, making some of them principal, and\nothers of them inferior. I suggest to you young people especially that,\nin starting life, you say to yourselves, \"What shall we live for? There\nis a principal thing for which we ought to live, what shall it be?\" Have\nyou turned over that question, or have you gone at it hit or miss? What\nare you living for? What is your principal aim? Is it going to be that\nof the old gentleman in Horace who said to his boy, \"Get money: get it\nhonestly, if you can; but, by all means, get money.\" Will you be a\nmoney-spinner? Shall coin be your principal corn? Or will you choose a\nlife of pleasure--\"a short life and a merry one,\" as so many fools have\nsaid to their great sorrow? Is it in dissipation that your life is to be\nspent? Are thistles to be your principal crop? Because there is a\npleasure in looking at a Scotch thistle, do you intend to grow acres of\npleasurable vice? And will you make your bed upon them when you come to\ndie? Search and see what is worthy of being the principal object in\nlife; and, when you have found it out, then beseech the Holy Spirit to\nhelp you to choose that one thing, and to give all your powers and\nfaculties to the cultivation of it. The farmer, who finds that wheat\nought to be his principal crop, makes it so, and lays himself out with\nthat end in view; learn from this to have a main object, and to give\nyour whole mind to it.\n\nThis farmer was wise, because _he counted that to be principal which was\nthe most needful_. His family could do without cummin, which was but a\nflavoring. Perhaps the mistress might complain, or the cook might\ngrumble, but that did not signify so much as it would do if the children\ncried for bread. They certainly must have wheat, for bread is the staff\nof life. It is bread that strengtheneth man's heart, and therefore the\nfarmer must grow wheat if he does not grow anything else. That which is\nnecessary he regarded as the principal thing. Is not this common sense?\nIf we were wisely to sit down and estimate, should we not say, \"To be\nforgiven my sins, to be right with God, to be holy, to be fit to live\neternally in heaven, is the greatest, the most needful thing for me, and\ntherefore I will make it the principal object of my pursuit\"? A creature\ncannot be satisfied unless he is answering the end for which he is\ncreated; and the end of every intelligent creature is first, to glorify\nGod, and next, to enjoy God. What a bliss it must be to enjoy God\nhimself for ever and ever! Other things may be desirable, but this thing\nis needful. A competence of income, a measure of esteem among men, a\ndegree of health--all these are the flavoring of life, but to be saved\nin the Lord with an everlasting salvation is life itself. Jesus Christ\nis the bread by which our soul's best life is sustained. Oh, that we\nwere all wise enough to feel that to be one with Christ is the one thing\nneedful; that to be at peace with God is the principal thing; that to be\nbrought into harmony with the Most High is the true music of our being.\nOther herbs may take their place in due order, but grace is the\nprincipal wheat, and we must cultivate it.\n\nThis farmer was wise, because _he made that to be the principal thing\nwhich was the most fit to be so_. Of course, barley is useful as food,\nfor nations have lived on barley bread, and lived healthily too; and rye\nhas been the nutriment of millions; neither have they starved on oats\nand other grains. Still, give me a piece of wheaten bread, for it is the\nbest staff for life's journey. This farmer knew that wheat was the most\nfitting food for man, and so he did not put the inferior grain, which\nmight act as a substitute, into the prominent place; but he gave his\nwheat the preference. He did not say, \"the principal barley,\" or \"the\nprincipal rye,\" much less \"the principal cummin,\" or \"the principal\nfitches,\" but \"the principal wheat.\"\n\nAnd what is there, brethren, that is so fit for the heart, the mind, the\nsoul of man, as to know God and his Christ? Other mental foods, such as\nthe fruits of knowledge, and the dainties of science, excellent though\nthey may be--are inferior nutriment and unsuitable to build up the inner\nmanhood. In my God and my Saviour, I find my heaven and my all. My soul\nsits down to a crumb of truth about Jesus, and finds great satisfaction\nin living upon it. The more we can know God, and enjoy God, and become\nlike to God, and the more Christ is our daily bread, the more do we\nperceive the fitness of all this to our new-born natures. O beloved,\nmake that to be your principal object which is the fittest pursuit of an\nimmortal mind.\n\n  \"Religion is the chief concern\n    Of mortals here below;\n  May I its great importance learn,\n    Its sovereign virtue know!\n\n  \"More needful this than glittering wealth,\n    Or aught the world bestows:\n  Not reputation, food, or health,\n    Can give us such repose.\"\n\nMoreover, this farmer was wise, because _he made that the principal\nthing which was the most profitable_. Under certain circumstances, in\nour own country, wheat is not the most profitable thing which a man can\ngrow; but, ordinarily, it is the best crop that the earth yields, and\ntherefore the text speaks of \"the principal wheat.\" Our grandfathers\nused to rely upon the wheat stack to pay their rent. They looked to\ntheir corn as the arm of their strength; and though it is not so now, it\nalways was so of old, and perhaps it may yet be so again. Anyhow, the\nfigure holds good with regard to true religion. That is the most\nprofitable thing. I am told that rich men find it very hard to get hold\nof anything which yields five per cent, nowadays; but this blessed fear\nof the Lord is an extraordinarily profitable investment, for it does not\nyield a hundred per cent, or a thousand per cent, but a man begins with\nnothing and all things become his by faith. Being freely discharged of\nour sins, we are by overflowing grace greatly enriched, so that we\nnumber among our possessions heaven itself, Christ himself, God himself.\nAll things are ours. Oh, what a blessed crop to sow! What a harvest\ncomes of it! Godliness is profitable for the life that now is, and for\nthat which is to come. Godliness is a blessing to a man's body, it keeps\nhim from drunkenness and vice; and it is a blessing to his soul, it\nmakes him sweet and pure. It is a blessing to him every way. If I had to\ndie like a dog, I would like to live like a Christian. If there were no\nhereafter, yet still, for comfort and for joy, give me the life of one\nwho strives to live like Christ. There is a practical everyday truth in\nthe verse--\n\n  \"'Tis religion that can give\n   Sweetest pleasures while we live;\n   'Tis religion must supply\n   Solid comfort when we die.\"\n\nOnly that religion must not be of the common sort; it must have for its\nroot a hearty faith in Jesus Christ. See ye to it. Our religion must be\neither everything or nothing, either first or nowhere. Make it \"the\nprincipal wheat,\" and it will richly repay you.\n\n\nII. Secondly, the husbandman is a lesson to us because HE GIVES THIS\nPRINCIPAL THING THE PRINCIPAL PLACE. I find that the Hebrew is rendered\nby some eminent scholars, \"He puts the wheat into the principal place.\"\nThat little handful of cummin for the wife to flavor the cakes with he\ngrows in a corner; and the various herbs he places in their proper\nborders. The barley he sets in its plot, and the rye in its acre; but if\nthere is a good bit of rich soil--the best he has--he appropriates it to\nthe principal wheat. He gives his choicest fields to that which is to be\nthe main means of his living.\n\nNow, here is a lesson for you and for me. Let us give to true godliness\nour principal powers and abilities. Let us give to the things of God our\nbest and _most intense thought_. I pray you, do not take religion at\nsecond hand from what I tell you, or from what somebody else tells you;\nbut think it over. Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the word of\nGod. The thoughtful Christian is the growing Christian. Remember, the\nservice of God deserves our first consideration and endeavor. We are\npoor things at our prime, but we ought to give the Lord nothing short of\nour best. God would not have us serve him heedlessly, but he would have\nus use all the brain and intellect and mind that we have in studying and\npractising his word. \"Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace.\"\n\"Meditate upon these things. Give thyself wholly to them.\" If your mind\nis more clear and active at one time than at another, then sow the\nprincipal wheat. If you feel more fresh and more inclined to think at\none time of the day than at another, let your mind then go towards the\nbest things.\n\nBe sure, also, to yield to this subject _your most earnest love_. The\nbest field in the little estate of manhood is not the head, but the\nheart; sow the principal wheat there. Oh, to have true religion in the\nheart; to love what we know--intensely to love it; to hold it fast as\nwith the grip of life and death--never to let it go! The Lord says, \"My\nson, give me thy heart,\" and he will not be contented with anything less\nthan our heart. Oh, when your zeal is most burning, and your love is\nmost fervent, let the warmth and the fervency all go towards the Lord\nyour God, and to the service of him who has redeemed you with his\nprecious blood. Let the principal wheat have the principal part of your\nnature. Towards God and his Christ also turn your _most fervent\ndesires_. When you enlarge your desire, desire Christ; when you become\nambitious let your ambition be all for God. Let your hunger and your\nthirst be after righteousness. Let your aspirations and your longings be\nall towards holiness, and the things that shall make you like to Christ.\nGive to this principal wheat your principal desires.\n\nThen let the Lord have _the attentive respect of your life_. Let the\nprincipal wheat be sown in every action. If we are truly Christians we\nmust be as much Christians outside the church as in it. We shall try to\nmake our eating and our drinking, and everything we do, tend to the\nglory of God. Draw no line between the secular and the religious part of\nyour conduct, but let the secular be made religious by a devout desire\nto glorify God in the one as much as in the other. Let us worship God\nin the commonest duties of life, even as they do who stand before his\nthrone. So it ought to be. Let us sow the principal wheat in all the\nfields of our conversation, in business, in the family, among our\nfriends, and with our children. May we each one feel, \"For me to live is\nChrist. I cannot live without Christ, or for anything but Christ.\" Let\nyour whole nature yield itself to Jesus, and to none else.\n\nWe should give to this principal wheat _our most earnest labors_. We\nshould spend ourselves for the spread of the gospel. A Christian man\nought to lay himself out to serve Jesus. I hate to see a professing man\nzealous in politics and lukewarm in devotion; all on fire at a parish\nvestry, and chill as winter when he comes to a prayer-meeting. Some fly\nlike eagles when they are serving the world, but they have a broken wing\nin the service of God. This should not be. If anything could rouse us\nup, and make the lion within us roar in his strength, it should be when\nwe confront the foes of Jesus or fight in his cause. Our Lord's service\nis the principal wheat, let us labor most in connection with it.\n\nThis, I think, should also take possession of us so as to lead to _our\ngreatest sacrifices_. The love of Christ ought to be so strong as to\nswallow up self, and make sacrifice our daily joy. For Christ's name's\nsake we should be willing to endure poverty, reproach, slander, exile,\ndeath. Nothing should be dear to a Christian in comparison with Christ.\nNow, I will put it to you whether it is so or no. Is the love of Jesus\nthe principal wheat with us? Are we giving our religion the chief place\nor not? I am afraid some people treat religion as certain gentlemen\ntreat an off-hand farm; they put a bailiff into it, and only give an\neye to it now and then. Their minister is the bailiff, and they expect\nhim to see to it for them. These off-hand farms are losing concerns.\nLook at these half-and-half brethren. They have religion? Certainly. But\nthey are like the man of whom the child spoke at the Sunday-school. \"Is\nyour father a Christian?\" said the teacher. \"Yes,\" said the child, \"but\nhe has not worked much at it lately.\" I could point out several of this\nsort, who are sowing their wheat very sparingly, and choosing the most\nbarren patch to sow it in. They profess to be Christians, but religion\nis a tenth-rate article on their farm. Some have a large acreage for the\nworld, and a poor little plot for Christ. They are growers of worldly\npleasure and self-indulgence, and they sow a little religion by the\nroadside for appearance sake. This will not do. God will not thus be\nmocked. If we despise him and his truth we shall be lightly esteemed. O\ncome let us give our principal time, talent, thought, effort to that\nwhich is the chief concern of immortal spirits. May we imitate the\nhusbandman who gives the principal wheat the principal place in his\nfarm.\n\n\nIII. Let us learn a third lesson. THE HUSBANDMAN SELECTS THE PRINCIPAL\nSEED-CORN WHEN HE IS SOWING HIS WHEAT. When a farmer is setting aside\nwheat for sowing, he does not choose the tail corn and the worst of his\nproduce, but if he is a sensible man he likes to sow the best wheat in\nthe world. Many farmers search the country round for a good sample of\nwheat for sowing, for they do not expect to get a good harvest out of\nbad seed. The husbandman is taught of God to put into the ground \"the\nprincipal wheat.\" Let me learn that if I am going to sow to the Lord\nand to be a Christian, I should sow the best kind of Christianity.\n\nI should try to do this, first, _by believing the weightiest doctrines_.\nI would believe not this \"ism,\" nor that, but the unadulterated truth\nwhich Jesus taught; for a holy character will only grow by the Spirit of\nGod out of true doctrine. Falsehood breeds sin: truth begets and fosters\nholiness. You and I therefore ought to select our seed carefully, and\ncast out all error. If we are wise we shall think most of the most\nimportant truths, for I have known people attach the greatest importance\nto the smallest things. They fight over the fitches, and leave the wheat\nto the crows. As for me, those who will may dispute over vials and\ntrumpets, I shall mainly preach the doctrine of the precious blood and\nthe glorious truths of substitution and atonement. These doctrines are\nthe principal wheat, and therefore these shall have my choice.\n\nNext to that, we ought to sow _the noblest examples_. Many men are\ndwarfed because they choose a bad model to start with. They imitate dear\nold Mr. So-and-so till they grow wonderfully like him with the best of\nhim left out. A minister happens to be of a gloomy turn of mind, and he\npreaches the deep experience of the children of God, and in consequence\na band of good people think it their duty to be melancholy. Why need\nthey fall into a ditch because their leader has splashed himself? We\nshould never copy any man's infirmities. To be like Paul there is no\nneed to have weak eyes; to be like Thomas there is no necessity to\ndoubt. If you copy any good man, there is a point at which you ought to\nstop short. If I must have a human model, I would prefer one of the\nbravest of the saints of God; but oh how much better to follow that\nperfect pattern which you have in Christ Jesus!\n\nWe should sow the best wheat by seeing that we have _the purest spirit_.\nAlas! how soon do spirits become soiled by self or pride, or despondency\nor sloth, or some earthly taint. But what a grand thing it is to live in\nthe spirit of Christ! May we be humble, lowly, bold, self-sacrificing,\npure, chaste, and holy.\n\nAnd, then, there is one more mode of sowing selected seed. We should\nendeavor to live in _the closest communion with God_. A dear brother\nprayed just now that we might have as much grace as we were capable of\nreceiving, and that God would bring us into such a state that we might\nnot hinder him in anything which he willed to do by us. This is a good\nprayer. It should be our desire to rise to the highest form of spiritual\nlife. If you sow this principal wheat, get the best sort of it. There is\na spirit and a spirit; and there are doctrines and doctrines; the best\nis the best for you. O young men, if you mean to have piety, go in for\nit thoroughly. Do not sneak through the world as if you were ashamed of\nyour Lord. If you are Christ's, show your colors. Rally to his banner,\ngather to his trumpet call, and then stand up, stand up for Jesus. If\nthere is any manhood in you, this great cause calls for it all; exhibit\nit, and may the Spirit of God help you so to do.\n\n\nIV. Fourthly, THE HUSBANDMAN GROWS THE PRINCIPAL WHEAT WITH THE\nPRINCIPAL CARE. Some critics say that the proper translation is that the\nhusbandman plants his wheat in rows. It is said that the large crops in\nPalestine in olden time were due to the fact that they planted the\nwheat. They set it in lines, so that it was not checked or suffocated\nby its being too thick in one place, neither was there any fear of its\nbeing too thin in another. The wheat was planted, and then streams of\nwater were turned by the foot to each particular plant. No wonder,\ntherefore, that the land brought forth abundantly.\n\nWe should give our principal care to the principal thing. Our godliness\nshould be carried out with discretion and care. Brethren, are we careful\nenough as to our religious walk? Have you ever searched to the bottom of\nyour profession? Why do you happen to be members of a certain church?\nYour mother was so. Well, there is some good in that reason, but not\nenough to justify you in the sight of God. I pray you judge your\nstanding. If any Christian minister is afraid to urge you to this duty,\nI stand in doubt of him. I am not at all afraid. I beg you to examine\nall that I teach you, for I would not like to be responsible for another\nman's creed. Like the Bereans, search and see whether these things be\naccording to Scripture or not. One of the greatest blessings that could\ncome upon the church would be a searching spirit which would refer\neverything to the Holy Scriptures. If they speak not according to this\nword it is because there is no light in them. Do your service to God as\ncarefully as the eastern farmer planted his wheat, when he set it in\nrows with great orderliness and exactness. You serve a precise God,\ntherefore serve him precisely. He is a jealous God, therefore be jealous\nof the least taint of error or will-worship.\n\nTake care, also, that you water every part of your religion, as the\nfarmer watered each plant. Pray for grace from on high that you may\nnever be parched and dried up. Perform to your faith, to your hope, to\nyour love, and to all the plants that are in your soul every other\nservice which the husbandman renders to his wheat. Give grace your\nprincipal care, for it deserves it.\n\n\nV. With this I close. Do this, because FROM THIS YOU MAY EXPECT YOUR\nPRINCIPAL CROP. If religion be the principal thing, you may look to\nreligion for your principal reward. The harvest will come to you in\nvarious ways. You will make the greatest success in this life if you\nwholly live to the glory of God. Success or failure must much depend\nupon the fitness of our object. It is of no use _my_ attempting to sing,\nfor I shall never be able to conduct a choir. I could not succeed in\nthat, but if I preach, I may succeed, for that is my work. Now you,\nChristian man, if you try to live to the world you will not prosper, for\nyou are not fitted for it. Grace has spoiled you for sin. If you live to\nGod with all your heart you will succeed in it, for God has made you on\npurpose for it. As he made the fish for the water, and the birds for the\nair, so he made the believer for holiness, and for the service of God;\nand you will be out of your element, a fish out of water, or a bird in\nthe stream, if you leave the service of God. The Eastern farmer's\nprosperity hinges on his wheat, and yours upon your devotion to God. It\nis to Godliness that you must look for your joy. Is there any bliss like\nthe bliss of knowing that you are in Christ, and are the beloved of the\nLord? It is to your religion that you must look for comfort on a sick\nand dying bed, and you may be there very soon.\n\nIn the world to come what a crop, what a harvest will come of serving\nthe Lord! What will come out of all else? What but mere smoke? A man has\nmade a million of money, and he is dead. What has he got by his wealth?\nA man's fame rings throughout the earth as a great and successful\nwarrior, and he is dead. What has he as the result of all his honors? To\nlive to the world is like playing with boys in the street for halfpence,\nor with babes for bits of platter and oyster shells. Life for God is\nreal and substantial, but all else is waste. Let us think so, and gird\nup our loins to serve the Lord. May the divine Spirit help us to sow\n\"the principal wheat,\" and to live in joyful expectation of reaping a\nhappy harvest according to the promise, \"They that sow in tears shall\nreap in joy.\"\n\n\n\n\nSPRING IN THE HEART.\n\n\"Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows\nthereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing\nthereof.\"--PSALM 65:10.\n\n\nTHOUGH other seasons excel in fulness, spring must always bear the palm\nfor freshness and beauty. We thank God when the harvest hours draw near,\nand the golden grain invites the sickle, but we ought equally to thank\nhim for the rougher days of spring, for these prepare the harvest. April\nshowers are mothers of the sweet May flowers, and the wet and cold of\nwinter are the parents of the splendor of summer. God blesses the\nspringing thereof, or else it could not be said, \"Thou crownest the year\nwith thy goodness.\" There is as much necessity for divine benediction in\nspring as for heavenly bounty in summer; and, therefore, we should\npraise God all the year round.\n\nSpiritual spring is a very blessed season in a church. Then we see\nyouthful piety developed, and on every hand we hear the joyful cry of\nthose who say, \"We have found the Lord.\" Our sons are springing up as\nthe grass and as willows by the water-courses. We hold up our hands in\nglad astonishment and cry, \"Who are these that fly as a cloud and as\ndoves to their windows?\" In the revival days of a Church, when God is\nblessing her with many conversions, she has great cause to rejoice in\nGod and to sing, \"Thou blessest the springing thereof.\"\n\nI intend to take the text in reference to individual cases. There is a\ntime of springing of grace, when it is just in its bud, just breaking\nthrough the dull cold earth of unregenerate nature. I desire to talk a\nlittle about that, and concerning the blessing which the Lord grants to\nthe green blade of new-born godliness, to those who are beginning to\nhope in the Lord.\n\n\nI. First, I shall have a little to say about THE WORK PREVIOUS TO THE\nSPRINGING THEREOF.\n\nIt appears from the text that there is work for God alone to do before\nthe springing comes, and we know that there is work for God to do\nthrough us as well.\n\n_There is work for us to do._ Before there can be a springing up in the\nsoul of any, there must be _ploughing_, harrowing, and sowing. There\nmust be a ploughing, and we do not expect that as soon as ever we plough\nwe shall reap the sheaves. Blessed be God, in many cases, the reaper\novertakes the ploughman, but we must not always expect it. In some\nhearts God is long in preparing the soul by conviction: the law with its\nten black horses drags the ploughshare of conviction up and down the\nsoul till there is no one part of it left unfurrowed. Conviction goes\ndeeper than any plough to the very core and centre of the spirit, till\nthe spirit is wounded. The ploughers make deep furrows indeed when God\nputs his hand to the work: the soil of the heart is broken in pieces in\nthe presence of the Most High.\n\nThen comes the _sowing_. Before there can be a springing up it is\ncertain that there must be something put into the ground, so that after\nthe preacher has used the plough of the law, he applies to his Master\nfor the seed-basket of the gospel. Gospel promises, gospel doctrines,\nespecially a clear exposition of free grace and the atonement, these are\nthe handfuls of corn which we scatter broadcast. Some of the grain falls\non the highway, and is lost; but other handfuls fall where the plough\nhas been, and there abide.\n\nThen comes the _harrowing_ work. We do not expect to sow seed and then\nleave it: the gospel has to be prayed over. The prayer of the preacher\nand the prayer of the Church make up God's harrow to rake in the seed\nafter it is scattered, and so it is covered up within the clods of the\nsoul, and is hidden in the heart of the hearer.\n\nNow there is a reason why I dwell upon this, namely, that I may exhort\nmy dear brethren who have not seen success, not to give up the work, but\nto hope that they have been doing the ploughing, and sowing, and\nharrowing work, and that the harvest is to come. I mention this for yet\nanother reason, and that is, by way of warning to those who expect to\nhave a harvest without this preparatory work. I do not believe that much\ngood will come from attempts at sudden revivals made without previous\nprayerful labor. A revival to be permanent must be a matter of growth,\nand the result of much holy effort, longing, pleading, and watching. The\nservant of God is to preach the gospel whether men are prepared for it\nor not; but in order to large success, depend upon it there is a\npreparedness necessary among the hearers. Upon some hearts warm earnest\npreaching drops like an unusual thing which startles but does not\nconvince; while in other congregations, where good gospel preaching has\nlong been the rule, and much prayer has been offered, the words fall\ninto the hearers' souls and bring forth speedy fruit. We must not expect\nto have results without work. There is no hope of a church having an\nextensive revival in its midst unless there is continued and importunate\nwaiting upon God, together with earnest laboring, intense anxiety, and\nhopeful expectation.\n\n_But there is also a work to be done which is beyond our power._ After\nploughing, sowing, and harrowing, there must come the shower from\nheaven. \"Thou visitest the earth and waterest it,\" says the Psalmist. In\nvain are all our efforts unless God shall bless us with the rain of his\nHoly Spirit's influence. O Holy Spirit! thou, and thou alone, workest\nwonders in the human heart, and thou comest from the Father and the Son\nto do the Father's purposes, and to glorify the Son.\n\nThree effects are spoken of. First, we are told _he waters the ridges_.\nAs the ridges of the field become well saturated through and through\nwith the abundant rain, so God sends his Holy Spirit till the whole\nheart of man is moved and influenced by his divine operations. The\nunderstanding is enlightened, the conscience is quickened, the will is\ncontrolled, the affections are inflamed; all these powers, which I may\ncall the ridges of the heart, come under the divine working. It is ours\nto deal with men as men, and bring to bear upon them gospel truth, and\nto set before them motives that are suitable to move rational creatures;\nbut, after all, it is the rain from on high which alone can water the\nridges: there is no hope of the heart being savingly affected except by\ndivine operations.\n\nNext, it is added, \"_Thou settlest the furrows_,\" by which some think\nit is meant that the furrows are drenched with water. Others think there\nis an allusion here to the beating down of the earth by heavy rain till\nthe ridges become flat, and by the soaking of the water are settled into\na more compact mass. Certain it is that the influences of God's Spirit\nhave a humbling and settling effect upon a man. He was unsettled once\nlike the earth that is dry and crumbly, and blown about and carried away\nwith every wind of doctrine; but as the earth when soaked with wet is\ncompacted and knit together, so the heart becomes solid and serious\nunder the power of the Spirit. As the high parts of the ridge are beaten\ndown into the furrows, so the lofty ideas, the grand schemes, and carnal\nboastings of the heart begin to level down, when the Holy Spirit comes\nto work upon the soul. Genuine humility is a very gracious fruit of the\nSpirit. To be broken in heart is the best means of preparing the soul\nfor Jesus. \"A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not\ndespise.\" Brethren, always be thankful when you see high thoughts of man\nbrought down; this settling the furrows is a very gracious preparatory\nwork of grace.\n\nYet again, it is added, \"_Thou makest it soft with showers_.\" Man's\nheart is naturally hardened against the gospel; like the Eastern soil,\nit is hard as iron if there be no gracious rain. How sweetly and\neffectively does the Spirit of God soften the man through and through!\nHe is no longer towards the Word what he used to be: he feels\neverything, whereas once he felt nothing. The rock flows with water; the\nheart is dissolved in tenderness, the eyes are melted into tears.\n\nAll this is God's work. I have said already that God works through us,\nbut still it is God's immediate work to send down the rain of his grace\nfrom on high. Perhaps he is at work upon some of you, though as yet\nthere is no springing up of spiritual life in your souls. Though your\ncondition is still a sad one, we will hope for you that ere long there\nshall be seen the living seed of grace sending up its tender green shoot\nabove the soil, and may the Lord bless the springing thereof.\n\n\nII. In the second place, let us deliver A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE\nSPRINGING THEREOF.\n\nAfter the operations of the Holy Spirit have been quietly going on for a\ncertain season as pleaseth the great Master and Husbandman, then there\nare signs of grace. Remember the apostle's words, \"First the blade, then\nthe ear, then the full corn in the ear.\" Some of our friends are greatly\ndisturbed because they cannot see the full corn in the ear in\nthemselves. They suppose that, if they were the subjects of a divine\nwork, they would be precisely like certain advanced Christians with whom\nit is their privilege to commune, or of whom they may have read in\nbiographies. Beloved, this is a very great mistake. When first grace\nenters the heart, it is not a great tree covering with its shadow whole\nacres, but it is the least of all seeds, like a grain of mustard seed.\nWhen it first rises upon the soul, it is not the sun shining at high\nnoon, but it is the first dim ray of dawn. Are you so simple as to\nexpect the harvest before you have passed through the springing-time? I\nshall hope that by a very brief description of the earliest stage of\nChristian experience you may be led to say, \"I have gone as far as\nthat,\" and then I hope you may be able to take the comfort of the text\nto yourselves: \"Thou blessest the springing thereof.\"\n\nWhat then is the springing up of piety in the heart? We think it is\nfirst seen in _sincerely earnest desires after salvation_. The man is\nnot saved, in his own apprehension, but he longs to be. That which was\nonce a matter of indifference is now a subject of intense concern. Once\nhe despised Christians, and thought them needlessly earnest; he thought\nreligion a mere trifle, and he looked upon the things of time and sense\nas the only substantial matters; but now how changed he is! He envies\nthe meanest Christian, and would change places with the poorest believer\nif he might but be able to read his title clear to mansions in the\nskies. Now worldly things have lost dominion over him, and spiritual\nthings are uppermost. Once with the unthinking many, he cried, \"Who will\nshow us any good?\" but now he cries, \"Lord, lift thou up the light of\nthy countenance upon me.\" Once it was the corn and the wine to which he\nlooked for comfort, but now he looks to God alone. His rock of refuge\nmust be God, for he finds no comfort elsewhere. His holy desires, which\nhe had years ago, were like smoke from the chimney, soon blown away; but\nnow his longings are permanent, though not always operative to the same\ndegree. At times these desires amount to a hungering and a thirsting\nafter righteousness, and yet he is not satisfied with these desires, but\nwishes for a still more anxious longing after heavenly things. These\ndesires are among the first springings of divine life in the soul.\n\n\"The springing thereof\" shows itself next in _prayer_. It _is_ prayer\nnow. Once it was the mocking of God with holy sounds unattended by the\nheart; but now, though the prayer is such that he would not like a human\near to hear him, yet God approves it, for it is the talking of a spirit\nto a Spirit, and not the muttering of lips to an unknown God. His\nprayers, perhaps, are not very long: they do not amount to more than\nthis, \"Oh!\" \"Ah!\" \"Would to God!\" \"Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner!\"\nand such-like short ejaculations; but, then, they _are_ prayers. \"Behold\nhe prayeth,\" does not refer to a long prayer; it is quite as sure a\nproof of spiritual life within, if it only refers to a sigh or to a\ntear. These \"groanings that cannot be uttered,\" are among \"the\nspringings thereof.\"\n\nThere will also be manifest _a hearty love for the means of grace_, and\nthe house of God. The Bible, long unread, which was thought to be of\nlittle more use than an old almanac, is now treated with great\nconsideration; and though the reader finds little in it that comforts\nhim just now, and much that alarms him, yet he feels that it is the book\nfor him, and he turns to its pages with hope. When he goes up to God's\nhouse, he listens eagerly, hoping that there may be a message for him.\nBefore, he attended worship as a sort of pious necessity incumbent upon\nall respectable people; but now he goes up to God's house that he may\nfind the Saviour. Once there was no more religion in him than in the\ndoor which turns upon its hinges; but now he enters the house praying,\n\"Lord, meet with my soul,\" and if he gets no blessing, he goes away\nsighing, \"O that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even\nto his seat.\" This is one of the blessed signs of \"the springing\nthereof.\"\n\nYet more cheering is another, namely, that the soul in this state has\n_faith in Jesus Christ_, at least in some degree. It is not a faith\nwhich brings great joy and peace, but still it is a faith which keeps\nthe heart from despair, and prevents its sinking under a sense of sin.\nI have known the time when I do not believe any man living could see\nfaith in me, and when I could scarcely perceive any in myself, and yet I\nwas bold to say, with Peter, \"Lord, thou knowest all things, _thou_\nknowest that I love thee.\" What man cannot see, Christ can see. Many\npeople have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but they are so much engaged\nin looking at it that they do not see it. If they would look to Christ\nand not to their own faith, they would not only see Christ but see their\nown faith too; but they measure their faith, and it seems so little when\nthey contrast it with the faith of full-grown Christians, that they fear\nit is not faith at all. Oh, little one, if thou hast faith enough to\nreceive Christ, remember the promise, \"To as many as received him, to\nthem gave he power to become the sons of God.\" Poor, simple,\nweak-hearted, and troubled one, look to Jesus and answer, Can such a\nSaviour suffer in vain? Can such an atonement be offered in vain? Canst\nthou trust him, and yet be cast away? It cannot be. It never was in the\nSaviour's heart to shake off one that did cling to his arm. However\nfeeble the faith, he blesses \"the springing thereof.\" The difficulty\nraises partly from misapprehension and partly from want of confidence in\nGod. I say misapprehension: now if like some Londoners you had never\nseen corn when it is green, you would cry out, \"What! Do you say that\nyonder green stuff is wheat?\" \"Yes,\" the farmer says, \"that is wheat.\"\nYou look at it again and you reply, \"Why, man alive, that is nothing but\ngrass. You do not mean to tell me that this grassy stuff will ever\nproduce a loaf of bread such as I see in the baker's window; I cannot\nconceive it.\" No, you could not conceive it, but when you get\naccustomed to it, it is not at all wonderful to see the wheat go through\ncertain stages; first the blade, then the ear, and afterwards the full\ncorn in the ear. Some of you have never seen growing grace, and do not\nknow anything about it. When you are newly converted you meet with\nChristians who are like ripe golden ears, and you say, \"I am not like\nthem.\" True, you are no more like them than that grassy stuff in the\nfurrows is like full-grown wheat; but you will grow like them one of\nthese days. You must expect to go through the blade period before you\nget to the ear period, and in the ear period you will have doubts\nwhether you will ever come to the full corn in the ear; but you will\narrive at perfection in due time. Thank God that you are in Christ at\nall. Whether I have much faith or little faith, whether I can do much\nfor Christ or little for Christ, is not the first question; I am saved,\nnot on account of what I am, but on account of what Jesus Christ is; and\nif I am trusting to him, however little in Israel I may be, I am as safe\nas the brightest of the saints.\n\nI have said, however, that mixed with misapprehension there is a great\ndeal of unbelief. I cannot put it all down to an ignorance that may be\nforgiven: for there is sinful unbelief too. O sinner, why do you not\ntrust Jesus Christ? Poor, quickened, awakened conscience, God gives you\nhis word that he who trusts in Christ is not condemned, and yet you are\nafraid that you are condemned! This is to give God the lie! Be ashamed\nand confounded that you should ever have been guilty of doubting the\nveracity of God. All your other sins do not grieve Christ so much as the\nsin of thinking that he is unwilling to forgive you, or the sin of\nsuspecting that if you trust him he will cast you away. Do not slander\nhis gracious character. Do not cast a slur upon the generosity of his\ntender heart. He saith, \"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast\nout.\" Come in the faith of his promise, and he will receive you just\nnow.\n\nI have thus given some description of \"the springing thereof.\"\n\n\nIII. Thirdly, according to the text, THERE IS ONE WHO SEES THIS\nSPRINGING. Thou, Lord--_thou_ blessest the springing thereof.\n\nI wish that some of us had quicker eyes to see the beginning of grace in\nthe souls of men; for want of this we let slip many opportunities of\nhelping the weaklings. If a woman had the charge of a number of children\nthat were not her own, I do not suppose she would notice all the\nincipient stages of disease; but when a mother nurses her own dear\nchildren, as soon as ever upon the cheek or in the eye there is a token\nof approaching sickness, she perceives it at once. I wish we had just as\nquick an eye, because just as tender a heart, towards precious souls. I\ndo not doubt that many young people are weeks and even months in\ndistress, who need not be, if you who know the Lord were a little more\nwatchful to help them in the time of their sorrow. Shepherds are up all\nnight at lambing time to catch up the lambs as soon as they are born,\nand take them in and nurse them; and we, who ought to be shepherds for\nGod, should be looking out for all the lambs, especially at seasons when\nthere are many born into God's great fold, for tender nursing is wanted\nin the first stages of the new life. God, however, when his servants do\nnot see \"the springing thereof,\" sees it all.\n\nNow, you silent, retired spirits, who dare not speak to father or\nmother, or brother or sister, this text ought to be a sweet morsel to\nyou. \"_Thou_ blessest the springing thereof,\" which proves that God sees\nyou and your new-born grace. The Lord sees the first sign of penitence.\nThough you only say to yourself, \"I will arise and go to my Father,\"\nyour Father hears you. Though it is nothing but a desire, your Father\nregisters it. \"Thou puttest my tears into thy bottle. Are they not in\nthy book?\" He is watching your return; he runs to meet you, and puts his\narms about you, and kisses you with the kisses of his accepting love. O\nsoul, be encouraged with that thought, that up in the chamber or down by\nthe hedge, or wherever it is that thou hast sought secrecy, God is\nthere. Dwell on the thought, \"Thou God seest me.\" That is a precious\ntext--\"All my desire is before thee;\" and here is another sweet one,\n\"The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in them that hope in\nhis mercy.\" He can see you when you only hope in his mercy, and he takes\npleasure in you if you have only begun to fear him. Here is a third\nchoice word, \"Thou wilt perfect that which concerneth me.\" Have you a\nconcern about these things? Is it a matter of soul-concern with you to\nbe reconciled to God, and to have an interest in Jesus' precious blood?\nIt is only \"the springing thereof,\" but he blesses it. It is written, \"A\nbruised reed he will not break, and the smoking flax he will not quench,\ntill he bring forth judgment unto victory.\" There shall be victory for\nyou, even before the judgment-seat of God, though as yet you are only\nlike the flax that smokes and gives no light, or like the reed that is\nbroken, and yields no music. God sees the first springing of grace.\n\n\nIV. A few words upon a fourth point: WHAT A MISERY IT WOULD BE, IF IT\nWERE POSSIBLE, TO HAVE THIS SPRINGING WITHOUT GOD'S BLESSING!\n\nThe text says, \"Thou _blessest_ the springing thereof.\" We must, just a\nmoment, by way of contrast, think of how the springing would have been\nwithout the blessing. Suppose we were to see a revival among us without\nGod's blessing. It is my conviction that there are revivals which are\nnot of God at all, but are produced by excitement merely. If there be no\nblessing from the Lord, it will be all a delusion, a bubble blown up\ninto the air for a moment, and then gone to nothing. We shall only see\nthe people stirred, to become the more dull and dead afterwards; and\nthis is a great mischief to the church.\n\nIn the individual heart, if there should be a springing up without God's\nblessing, there would be no good in it. Suppose you have good desires,\nbut no blessing on these desires, they will only tantalize and worry\nyou; and then, after a time, they will be gone, and you will be more\nimpervious than you were before to religious convictions; for, if\nreligious desires are not of God's sending, but are caused by\nexcitement, they will probably prevent your giving a serious hearing to\nthe Word of God in times to come. If convictions do not soften they will\ncertainly harden. To what extremities have some been driven who have had\nspringings of a certain sort which have not led them to Christ! Some\nhave been crushed by despair. They tell us that religion crowds the\nmadhouse: it is not true; but there is no doubt whatever that\nreligiousness of a certain kind has driven many a man out of his mind.\nThe poor souls have felt their wound but have not seen the balm. They\nhave not known Jesus. They have had a sense of sin and nothing more.\nThey have not fled for refuge to the hope which God has set before them.\nMarvel not if men do go mad when they refuse the Saviour. It may come as\na judicial visitation of God upon those men who, when in great distress\nof mind, will not fly to Christ. I believe it is with some just\nthis--you must either fly to Jesus, or else your burden will become\nheavier and heavier until your spirit will utterly fail. This is not the\nfault of religion, it is the fault of those who will not accept the\nremedy which religion presents. A springing up of desires without God's\nblessing would be an awful thing, but we thank him that we are not left\nin such a case.\n\n\nV. And now I have to dwell upon THE COMFORTING THOUGHT THAT GOD DOES\nBLESS \"THE SPRINGING THEREOF.\" I wish to deal with you who are tender\nand troubled; I want to show that God _does_ bless your springing. He\ndoes it in many ways.\n\nFrequently he does it by the cordials which he brings. You have a few\nvery sweet moments: you cannot say that you are Christ's, but at times\nthe bells of your heart ring very sweetly at the mention of his name.\nThe means of grace are very precious to you. When you gather to the\nLord's worship you feel a holy calm, and you go away from the service\nwishing that there were seven Sundays in the week instead of one. By the\nblessing of God the Word has just suited your case, as if the Lord had\nsent his servants on purpose to you: you lay aside your crutches for\nawhile, and you begin to run. Though these things have been sadly\ntransient, they are tokens for good.\n\nOn the other hand, if you have had none of these comforts, or few of\nthem, and the means of grace have not been consolations to you, I want\nyou to look upon that as a blessing. It may be the greatest blessing\nthat God can give us to take away all comforts on the road, in order to\nquicken our running towards the end. When a man is flying to the City of\nRefuge to be protected from the man-slayer, it may be an act of great\nconsideration to stay him for a moment that he may quench his thirst and\nrun more swiftly afterwards; but perhaps, in a case of imminent peril,\nit may be the kindest thing neither to give him anything to eat or to\ndrink, nor invite him to stop for a moment, in order that he may fly\nwith undiminished speed to the place of safety. The Lord may be blessing\nyou in the uneasiness which you feel. Inasmuch as you cannot say that\nyou are in Christ, it may be the greatest blessing which heaven can give\nto take away every other blessing from you, in order that you may be\ncompelled to fly to the Lord. You perhaps have a little of your\nself-righteousness left, and while it is so you cannot get joy and\ncomfort. The royal robe which Jesus gives will never shine brilliantly\nupon us till every rag of our own goodness is gone. Perhaps you are not\nempty enough, and God will never fill you with Christ till you are. Fear\noften drives men to faith. Have you never heard of a person walking in\nthe fields into whose bosom a bird has flown because pursued by the\nhawk? Poor, timid thing, it would not have ventured there had not a\ngreater fear compelled it. All this may be so with you; your fears may\nbe sent to drive you more swiftly and more closely to the Saviour, and\nif so, I see in these present sorrows the signs that God is blessing\n\"the springing thereof.\"\n\nIn looking back upon my own \"springing\" I sometimes think God blessed me\nthen in a lovelier way than now. Though I would not willingly return to\nthat early stage of my spiritual life, yet there were many joys about\nit. An apple tree when loaded with apples is a very comely sight: but\ngive me, for beauty, the apple tree in bloom. The whole world does not\npresent a more lovely sight than an apple blossom. Now, a full-grown\nChristian laden with fruit is a comely sight, but still there is a\npeculiar loveliness about the young Christian. Let me tell you what that\nblessedness is; you have probably now a greater horror of sin than\nprofessors who have known the Lord for years; they might wish that they\nfelt your tenderness of conscience. You have now a graver sense of duty,\nand a more solemn fear of the neglect of it, than some who are further\nadvanced. You have also a greater zeal than many: you are now doing your\nfirst works for God, and burning with your first love; nothing is too\nhot or too heavy for you: I pray that you may never decline, but always\nadvance.\n\nAnd now to close. I think there are three lessons for us to learn.\nFirst, _let older saints be very gentle and kind to young believers_.\nGod blesses the springing thereof--mind that you do the same. Do not\nthrow cold water upon young desires: do not snuff out young believers\nwith hard questions. While they are babes and need the milk of the Word,\ndo not be choking them with your strong meat; they will eat strong meat\nby-and-by, but not just yet. Remember, Jacob would not overdrive the\nlambs; be equally prudent. Teach and instruct them, but let it be with\ngentleness and tenderness, not as their superiors, but as nursing\nfathers for Christ's sake. God, you see, blesses the springing\nthereof--may he bless it through you!\n\nThe next thing I have to say is, _fulfil the duty of gratitude_.\nBeloved, if God blesses the springing thereof we ought to be grateful\nfor a little grace. If you have only seen the first shoot peeping up\nthrough the mould be thankful, and you shall see the green blade waving\nin the breeze; be thankful for the ankle-deep verdure and you shall soon\nsee the commencement of the ear; be thankful for the first green ears\nand you shall see the flowering of the wheat, and by-and-by its\nripening, and the joyous harvest.\n\nThe last lesson is one of _encouragement_. If God blesses \"the springing\nthereof,\" dear beginners, what will he not do for you in after days? If\nhe gives you such a meal when you break your fast, what dainties will be\non your table when he says to you, \"Come and dine\"; and what a banquet\nwill he furnish at the supper of the Lamb! O troubled one! let the\nstorms which howl and the snows which fall, and the wintry blasts that\nnip your springing, all be forgotten in this one consoling thought, that\nGod blesses your springing, and whom God blesses none can curse. Over\nyour head, dear, desiring, pleading, languishing soul, the Lord of\nheaven and earth pronounces the blessing of the Father, and the Son, and\nthe Holy Spirit. Take that blessing and rejoice in it evermore. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFARM LABORERS.\n\n\"I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then\nneither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God\nthat giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are\none: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own\nlabor. For we are laborers together with God: ye are God's\nhusbandry.\"--1 CORINTHIANS 3:6-9.\n\n\nI SHALL begin at the end of my text, because I find it to be the easiest\nway of mapping out my discourse. We shall first remark that _the church\nis God's farm_: \"Ye are God's husbandry.\" In the margin of the revised\nversion we read, \"Ye are God's tilled ground,\" and that is the very\nexpression for me. \"Ye are God's tilled ground,\" or farm. After we have\nspoken of the farm we will next say a little upon the fact that _the\nLord employs laborers_ on his estate: and when we have looked at the\nlaborers--such poor fellows as they are--we will remember that _God\nhimself is the great worker_: \"We are laborers together with God.\"\n\n\nI. We begin by considering that THE CHURCH IS GOD'S FARM. The Lord has\nmade the church his own by his sovereign _choice_. He has also secured\nit unto himself by _purchase_, having paid for it a price immense. \"The\nLord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.\"\nEvery acre of God's farm cost the Saviour a bloody sweat, yea, the blood\nof his heart. He loved us, and gave himself for us: that is the price\nhe paid. Henceforth the church is God's freehold, and he holds the title\ndeeds of it. It is our joy to feel that we are not our own, we are\nbought with a price. The church is God's farm by choice and purchase.\n\nAnd now he has made it his by _enclosure_. It lay exposed aforetime as\npart of an open common, bare and barren, covered with thorns and\nthistles, and the haunt of every wild beast; for we were \"by nature the\nchildren of wrath, even as others.\" Divine foreknowledge surveyed the\nwaste, and electing love marked out its portion with a full line of\ngrace, and thus set us apart to be the Lord's own estate forever. In due\ntime effectual grace came forth with power, and separated us from the\nrest of mankind, as fields are hedged and ditched to part them from the\nopen heath. Hath not the Lord declared that he hath chosen his vineyard\nand fenced it?\n\n  \"We are a garden wall'd around,\n   Chosen and made peculiar ground;\n   A little spot, enclosed by grace\n   Out of the world's wide wilderness.\"\n\nThe Lord has also made this farm evidently his own by _cultivation_.\nWhat more could he have done for his farm? He has totally changed the\nnature of the soil: from being barren he hath made it a fruitful land.\nHe hath ploughed it, and digged it, and fattened it, and watered it, and\nplanted it with all manner of flowers and fruits. It hath already\nbrought forth to him many a pleasant cluster, and there are brighter\ntimes to come, when angels shall shout the harvest home, and Christ\n\"shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.\"\n\nThis farm is preserved by the Lord's continual _protection_. Not only\ndid he enclose it, and cultivate it by his miraculous power, to make it\nhis own farm, but he continually maintains possession of it. \"I the\nLord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will\nkeep it night and day.\" If it were not for God's continual power her\nhedges would soon be thrown down, and wild beasts would devour her\nfields. Wicked hands are always trying to break down her walls and lay\nher waste again, so that there should be no true church in the world;\nbut the Lord is jealous for his land, and will not allow it to be\ndestroyed. A church would not long remain a church if God did not\npreserve it unto himself. What if God should say, \"I will take away the\nhedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall\nthereof, and it shall be trodden down\"? What a wilderness it would\nbecome. What saith he? \"Go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh,\nwhere I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the\nwickedness of my people Israel.\" Go ye to Jerusalem, where of old was\nthe city of his glory and the shrine of his indwelling, and what is left\nthere to-day? Go ye to Rome, where once Paul preached the gospel with\npower: what is it now but the centre of idolatry? The Lord may remove\nthe candlestick, and leave a place that was bright as day to become\nblack as darkness itself. Hence God's farm remains a farm because he is\never in it to prevent its returning to its former wildness. Omnipotent\npower is as needful to keep the fields of the church under cultivation\nas to reclaim them at the first.\n\nInasmuch as the church is God's own farm, _he expects to receive a\nharvest from it_. The world is waste, and he looks for nothing from it;\nbut we are tilled land, and therefore a harvest is due from us.\nBarrenness suits the moorland, but to a farm it would be a great\ndiscredit. Love looks for returns of love; grace given demands gracious\nfruit. Watered with the drops of the Saviour's bloody sweat, shall we\nnot bring forth a hundredfold to his praise? Kept by the eternal Spirit\nof God, shall there not be produced in us fruits to his glory? The\nLord's husbandry upon us has shown a great expenditure of cost, and\nlabor, and thought; ought there not to be a proportionate return? Ought\nnot the Lord to have a harvest of obedience, a harvest of holiness, a\nharvest of usefulness, a harvest of praise? Shall it not be so? I think\nsome churches forget that an increase is expected from every field of\nthe Lord's farm, for they never have a harvest or even look for one.\nFarmers do not plough their lands or sow their fields for amusement;\nthey mean business, and plough and sow because they desire a harvest. If\nthis fact could but enter into the heads of some professors, surely they\nwould look at things in a different light; but of late it has seemed as\nif we thought that God's church was not expected to produce anything,\nbut existed for her own comfort and personal benefit. Brethren, it must\nnot be so; the great Husbandman must have some reward for his husbandry.\nEvery field must yield its increase, and the whole estate must bring\nforth to his praise. We join with the bride in the Song in saying, \"My\nvineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have\nthousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.\"\n\nBut I come back to the place from which I started. This farm is, by\nchoice, by purchase, by enclosure, by cultivation, by preservation,\nentirely the Lord's. See, then, the injustice of allowing any of the\nlaborers to call even a part of the estate his own. When a great man\nhas a large farm of his own, what would he think if Hodge the ploughman\nshould say, \"Look here, I plough this farm, and therefore it is mine: I\nshall call this field Hodge's Acres\"? \"No,\" says Hobbs, \"I reaped that\nland last harvest, and therefore it is mine, and I shall call it Hobbs's\nField.\" What if all the other laborers became Hodgeites and Hobbsites,\nand so parcelled out the farm among them? I think the landlord would\nsoon eject the lot of them. The farm belongs to its owner, and let it be\ncalled by his name; but it is absurd to call it by the names of the men\nwho labor upon it. Shall insignificant nobodies rob God of his glory?\nRemember how Paul put it: \"Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos?\" \"Is\nChrist divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the\nname of Paul?\" The entire church belongs to him who has chosen it in his\nsovereignty, bought it with his blood, fenced it by his grace,\ncultivated it by his wisdom, and preserved it by his power. There is but\none church on the face of the earth, and those who love the Lord should\nkeep this truth in mind. Paul is a laborer, Apollos is a laborer, Cephas\nis a laborer; but the farm is not Paul's, not so much as a rood of it,\nnor does a single parcel of land belong to Apollos, or the smallest\nallotment to Cephas; for \"Ye are Christ's.\" The fact is that in this\ncase the laborers belong to the land, and not the land to the laborers:\n\"For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas.\" \"We\npreach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your\nservants for Jesus' sake.\"\n\n\nII. We have now to notice, as our second head, that THE GREAT HUSBANDMAN\nEMPLOYS LABORERS. _By human agency God ordinarily works out his\ndesigns._ He can, if he pleases, by his Holy Spirit get directly at the\nhearts of men, but that is his business, and not ours; we have to do\nwith such words as these: \"It pleased God by the foolishness of\npreaching to save them that believe.\" The Master's commission is not,\n\"Sit still and see the Spirit of God convert the nations;\" but, \"Go ye\ninto all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.\" Observe\nGod's method in supplying the race with food. In answer to the prayer,\n\"Give us this day our daily bread,\" he might have bidden the clouds drop\nmanna, morning by morning, at each man's door; but he sees that it is\nfor our good to work, and so he uses the hands of the ploughman and the\nsower for our supply. God might cultivate his chosen farm, the church,\nby miracle, or by angels; but in great condescension he blesses her\nthrough her own sons and daughters. He employs us for our own good; for\nwe who are laborers in his fields receive much more good for ourselves\nthan we bestow. Labor develops our spiritual muscle and keeps us in\nhealth. \"Unto me,\" says Paul, \"who am less than the least of all saints,\nis this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the\nunsearchable riches of Christ.\"\n\nOur great Master means that every laborer on his farm should receive\nsome benefit from it, for he never muzzles the mouth of the ox that\ntreadeth out the corn. The laborer's daily bread comes out of the soil.\nThough he works not for himself, but for his Master, yet still he has\nhis portion of food. In the Lord's granary there is seed for the sower,\nbut there is also bread for the eater. However disinterestedly we may\nserve God in the husbandry of his church, we are ourselves partakers of\nthe fruit. It is a great condescension on God's part that he uses us at\nall, for we are poor tools at the best, and more hindrance than help.\n\nThe laborers employed by God are all _occupied upon needful work_.\nNotice: \"I have planted, Apollos watered.\" Who beat the big drum, or\nblew his own trumpet? Nobody. On God's farm none are kept for ornamental\npurposes. I have read some sermons which could only have been meant for\nshow, for there was not a grain of gospel in them. They were ploughs\nwith the share left out, drills with no wheat in the box, clod-crushers\nmade of butter. I do not believe that our God will ever pay wages to men\nwho only walk about his grounds to show themselves. Orators who display\ntheir eloquence in the pulpit are more like gypsies who stray on the\nfarm to pick up chickens, than honest laborers who work to bring forth a\ncrop for their master. Many of the members of our churches live as if\ntheir only business on the farm was to pluck blackberries or gather wild\nflowers. They are great at finding fault with other people's ploughing\nand mowing; but not a hand's turn will they do themselves. Come on, my\ngood fellows. Why stand ye all the day idle? The harvest is plenteous,\nand the laborers are few. You who think yourselves more cultivated than\nordinary people, if you are indeed Christians, must not strut about and\ndespise those who are hard at work. If you do, I shall say, \"That person\nhas mistaken his master; he may probably be in the employ of some\ngentleman farmer, who cares more for show than profit; but our great\nLord is practical, and on his estate his laborers attend to needful\nlabor.\" When you and I preach or teach it will be well if we say to\nourselves, \"What will be the use of what I am going to do? I am about\nto teach a difficult subject; will it do any good? I have chosen an\nabstruse point of theology; will it serve any purpose?\" Brethren, a\nlaborer may work very hard at a whim of his own, and yet it may be all\nwaste labor. Some discourses do little more than show the difference\nbetween tweedle-_dum_ and tweedle-_dee_, and what is the use of that?\nSuppose we sow the fields with sawdust, or sprinkle them with\nrose-water, what of that? Will God bless our moral essays, and fine\ncompositions, and pretty passages? Brethren, we must aim at usefulness:\nwe must as laborers together with God be occupied with something that is\nworth doing. \"I,\" says one, \"have planted\": it is well, for planting\nmust be done. \"I,\" answers another, \"have watered\": that also is good\nand necessary. See to it that ye can each bring in a solid report; but\nlet no man be content with the mere child's-play of oratory, or the\ngetting up of entertainments and such like.\n\nOn the Lord's farm _there is a division of labor_. Even Paul did not\nsay, \"I have planted and watered.\" No, Paul planted. And certainly\nApollos could not say, \"I have planted as well as watered.\" No, it was\nenough for him to attend to the watering. No man has all gifts. How\nfoolish, then, are they who say, \"I enjoy So-and-so's ministry because\nhe edifies the saints in doctrine; but when he was away the other Sunday\nI could not profit by the preacher because he was all for the conversion\nof sinners.\" Yes, he was planting; you have been planted a good while,\nand do not need planting again; but you ought to be thankful that others\nare made partakers of the benefit. One soweth and another reapeth, and\ntherefore instead of grumbling at the honest ploughman because he did\nnot bring a sickle with him, you ought to have prayed for him that he\nmight have strength to plough deep and break up hard hearts.\n\nObserve that, on God's farm, _there is unity of purpose_ among the\nlaborers. Read the text. \"Now he that planteth and he that watereth are\none.\" One Master has employed them, and though he may send them out at\ndifferent times, and to different parts of the farm, yet they are all\none in being used for one end, to work for one harvest. In England we do\nnot understand what is meant by watering, because the farmer could not\nwater all his farm; but in the East a farmer waters almost every inch of\nhis ground. He would have no crop if he did not use all means for\nirrigating the fields. If you have ever been in Italy, Egypt, or\nPalestine, you will have seen a complete system of wells, pumps, wheels,\nbuckets, channels, little streamlets, pipes, and so on, by which the\nwater is carried all over the garden to every plant, otherwise in the\nextreme heat of the sun it would be dried up. Planting needs wisdom,\nwatering needs quite as much, and the piecing of these two works\ntogether needs that the laborers should be of one mind. It is a bad\nthing when laborers are at cross purposes, and work against each other,\nand this evil is worse in the church than anywhere else. How can I plant\nwith success if my helper will not water what I have planted; or what is\nthe use of my watering if nothing is planted? Husbandry is spoiled when\nfoolish people undertake it, and quarrel over it; for from sowing to\nreaping the work is one, and all must be done to one end. Let us pull\ntogether all our days, for strife brings barrenness.\n\nWe are called upon to notice in our text that _all the laborers put\ntogether are nothing at all_. \"Neither is he that planteth anything,\nneither he that watereth.\" The workmen are nothing at all without their\nmaster. All the laborers on a farm could not manage it if they had no\none at their head, and all the preachers and Christian workers in the\nworld can do nothing unless God be with them. Remember that every\nlaborer on God's farm has derived all his qualifications from God. No\nman knows how to plant or water souls except the Lord teaches him from\nday to day. All these holy gifts are grants of free grace. All the\nlaborers work under God's direction and arrangement, or they work in\nvain. They would not know when or how to do their work if their Master\ndid not guide them by his Spirit, without whose help they cannot even\nthink a good thought. All God's laborers must go to him for their seed,\nor else they will scatter tares. All good seed comes out of God's\ngranary. If we preach, it must be the true word of God, or nothing can\ncome of it. More than that, all the strength that is in the laborer's\narm to sow the heavenly seed must be given by the Master. We cannot\npreach except God be with us. A sermon is vain talk and dreary\nword-spinning unless the Holy Spirit enlivens it. He must give us both\nthe preparation of the heart and the answer of the tongue, or we shall\nbe as men who sow the wind. When the good seed is sown the whole success\nof it rests with God. If he withhold the dew and the rain the seed will\nnever rise from the ground; and unless he shall shine upon it the green\near will never ripen. The human heart will remain barren, even though\nPaul himself should preach, unless God the Holy Ghost shall work with\nPaul and bless the word to those that hear it. Therefore, since the\nincrease is of God alone, put the laborers into their place. Do not make\ntoo much of us; for when we have done all we are unprofitable servants.\n\nYet, though inspiration calls the laborers nothing, it says that _they\nshall be rewarded_. God works our good works in us, and then rewards us\nfor them. Here we have mention of a personal service, and a personal\nreward: \"Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own\nlabor.\" The reward is proportionate, not to the success, but to the\nlabor. Many discouraged workers may be comforted by that expression. You\nare not to be paid by results, but by endeavors. You may have a stiff\nbit of clay to plough, or a dreary plot of land to sow, where stones,\nand birds, and thorns, and travellers, and a burning sun may all be\nleagued against the seed; but you are not accountable for these things;\nyour reward shall be according to your work. Some put a great deal of\nlabor into a little field, and make much out of it. Others use a great\ndeal of labor throughout a long life, and yet they see but small result,\nfor it is written, \"One soweth, and another reapeth\": but the reaping\nman will not get all the reward, the sowing man shall receive his\nportion of the joy. The laborers are nobodies, but they shall enter into\nthe joy of their Lord.\n\n_Unitedly_, according to the text, _the workers have been successful_,\nand that is a great part of their reward. \"I have planted, Apollos\nwatered; but God gave the increase.\" Frequently brethren say in their\nprayers, \"A Paul may plant, an Apollos may water, but it is all in vain\nunless God gives the increase.\" This is quite true; but another truth is\ntoo much overlooked, namely, that when Paul plants and Apollos waters,\nGod does give the increase. We do not labor in vain. There would be no\nincrease without God; but then we are not without God: when such men as\nPaul and Apollos plant and water, there is sure to be an increase; they\nare the right kind of laborers, they work in a right spirit, and God is\ncertain to bless them. This is a great part of the laborer's wages.\n\n\nIII. So much upon the laborers. Now for the main point again. GOD\nHIMSELF IS THE GREAT WORKER. He may use what laborers he pleases, but\nthe increase comes alone from him. Brethren, you know it is so in\nnatural things: the most skilful farmer cannot make the wheat germinate,\nand grow, and ripen. He cannot even preserve a single field till harvest\ntime, for the farmer's enemies are many and mighty. In husbandry there's\nmany a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip; and when the farmer thinks, good\neasy man, that he shall reap his crop, there are blights and mildews\nlingering about to rob him of his gains. God must give the increase. If\nany man is dependent on God it is the husbandman, and through him we are\nall of us dependent upon God from year to year for the food by which we\nlive. Even the king must live by the produce of the field. God gives the\nincrease in the barn and the hay-rick; and in the spiritual farm it is\neven more so, for what can man do in this business? If any of you think\nthat it is an easy thing to win a soul I should like you to attempt it.\nSuppose that without divine aid you should try to save a soul--you might\nas well attempt to make a world. Why, you cannot create a fly, how can\nyou create a new heart and a right spirit? Regeneration is a great\nmystery, it is out of your reach. \"The wind bloweth where it listeth,\nand thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it\ncometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the\nSpirit.\" What can you and I do in this matter? it is far beyond our\nline. We can tell out the truth of God; but to apply that truth to the\nheart and conscience is quite another thing. I have preached Jesus\nChrist with my whole heart, and yet I know that I have never produced a\nsaving effect upon a single unregenerate man unless the Spirit of God\nhas opened the heart and placed the living seed of truth within it.\nExperience teaches us this. Equally is it the Lord's work to keep the\nseed alive when it springs up. We think we have converts, and we are not\nlong before we are disappointed in them. Many are like blossoms on our\napple trees; they are fair to look upon, but they do not come to\nanything; and others are like the many little apples which fall off long\nbefore they have come to any size. He who presides over a great church,\nand feels an agony for the souls of men, will soon be convinced that if\nGod does not work there will be no work done: we shall see no\nconversion, no sanctification, no final perseverance, no glory brought\nto God, no satisfaction for the passion of the Saviour, unless the Lord\nbe with us. Well said our Lord, \"Without me ye can do nothing.\"\n\n\nBriefly I would draw certain practical lessons out of this important\ntruth: the first is, if the whole farm of the church belongs exclusively\nto the great Master Worker, and the laborers are worth nothing without\nhim, _let this promote unity among all whom he employs_. If we are all\nunder one Master, do not let us quarrel. It is a miserable business when\nwe cannot bear to see good being done by those of a different\ndenomination who work in ways of their own. If a new laborer comes on\nthe farm, and he uses a hoe of a new shape, shall I become his enemy? If\nhe does his work better than I do mine, shall I be jealous? Do you not\nremember reading in the Scriptures that, upon one occasion, the\ndisciples could not cast out a devil? This ought to have made them\nhumble; but to our surprise we read a few verses further on that they\nsaw one casting out devils in Christ's name, and they forbade him\nbecause he followed not with their company. _They_ could not cast out\nthe devil themselves, and they forbade those who could. A certain band\nof people are going about winning souls, but because they are not doing\nit in our fashion, we do not like it. It is true they have odd ways; but\nthey do really save souls, and that is the main point. Instead of\ncavilling, let us encourage all on Christ's side. Wisdom is justified of\nher children, though some of them are far from handsome. The laborers\nought to be satisfied with the new ploughman if their Master smiles upon\nhim. Brother, if the great Lord has employed you, it is no business of\nmine to question his choice. Can I lend you a hand? Can I show you how\nto work better? Or can you show me how I can improve? This is the proper\nbehavior of one workman to another.\n\nThis truth, however, ought to _keep all the laborers very dependent_.\nAre you going to preach, young man? \"Yes, I am going to do a great deal\nof good.\" Are you? Have you forgotten that you are nothing? \"Neither is\nhe that planteth anything.\" A divine is coming brimful of the gospel to\ncomfort the saints. If he is not coming in strict dependence upon God,\nhe, too, is nothing. \"Neither is he that watereth anything.\" Power\nbelongeth unto God. Man is vanity and his words are wind; to God alone\nbelongeth power and wisdom. If we keep our places in all lowliness our\nLord will use us; but if we exalt ourselves he will leave us to our\nnothingness.\n\nNext notice that _this fact ennobles everybody who labors in God's\nhusbandry_. My soul is lifted up with joy when I mark these words, \"For\nwe are laborers together with God\": mere laborers on his farm, and yet\nlaborers _with him_. Does the Lord work with us? We know he does by the\nsigns following. \"My Father worketh hitherto, and I work,\" is language\nfor all the sons of God as well as for the great Firstborn. God is with\nyou, my brethren, when you are serving him with all your heart. Speaking\nto your class concerning Jesus, it is God that speaks by you; picking up\nthat stranger on the way, and telling him of salvation by faith, Christ\nis speaking through you even as he spoke with the woman at the well;\naddressing the rough crowd in the open air, young man, if you are\npreaching pardon through the atoning blood, it is the God of Peter who\nis testifying of his Son, even as he did on the day of Pentecost.\n\nBut, lastly, _how this should drive us to our knees_. Since we are\nnothing without God, let us cry mightily unto him for help in this our\nholy service. Let both sower and reaper pray together, or they will\nnever rejoice together. If the blessing be withheld, it is because we do\nnot cry for it and expect it. Brother laborers, come to the mercy-seat,\nand we shall yet see the reapers return from the fields bringing their\nsheaves with them, though, perhaps, they went forth weeping to the\nsowing. To our Father, who is the husbandman, be all glory, for ever and\never. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nWHAT THE FARM LABORERS CAN DO AND WHAT THEY CANNOT DO.\n\n\"And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed\ninto the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed\nshould spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth\nforth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the\nfull corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately\nhe putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.\"--MARK 4:26-29.\n\n\nTHERE is a lesson for \"laborers together with God.\" It is a parable for\nall who are concerned in the kingdom of God. It will be of little value\nto those who are in the kingdom of darkness, for they are not bidden to\nsow the good seed: \"Unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to\ndeclare my statutes?\" But all who are commissioned to scatter seed for\nthe Royal Husbandman, will be glad to know how the harvest is preparing\nfor him whom they serve. Listen, then, ye that sow beside all waters; ye\nthat with holy diligence seek to fill the garners of heaven--listen, and\nmay the Spirit of God speak into your ears as you are able to bear it.\n\n\nI. We shall, first, learn from our text WHAT WE CAN DO AND WHAT WE\nCANNOT DO. Let this stand as our first head.\n\n\"So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the\nground:\" this the gracious worker can do. \"And the seed should spring\nand grow up, he knoweth not how:\" this is what he cannot do: seed once\nsown is beyond human jurisdiction, and man can neither make it spring\nnor grow. Yet ere long the worker comes in again:--\"When the fruit is\nbrought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle.\" We can reap in due\nseason, and it is both our duty and our privilege to do so. You see,\nthen, that there is a place for the worker at the beginning, and though\nthere is no room for him in the middle passage, yet another opportunity\nis given him further on when that which he sowed has actually yielded\nfruit.\n\nNotice, then, that _we can sow_. Any man who has received the knowledge\nof the grace of God in his heart can teach others. I include under the\nterm \"man\" all who know the Lord, be they male or female. We cannot all\nteach alike, for all have not the same gifts; to one is given one\ntalent, and to another ten; neither have we all the same opportunities,\nfor one lives in obscurity and another has far-reaching influence; yet\nthere is not within the family of God an infant hand which may not drop\nits own tiny seed into the ground. There is not a man among us who needs\nto stand idle in the market-place, for work suitable to his strength is\nwaiting for him. There is not a saved woman who is left without a holy\ntask; let her do it and win the approving word, \"She hath done what she\ncould.\"\n\nWe need never quarrel with God because we cannot do everything, if he\nonly permits us to do this one thing; for sowing the good seed is a work\nwhich will need all our wit, our strength, our love, our care. Holy seed\nsowing should be adopted as our highest pursuit, and it will be no\ninferior object for the noblest life. You will need heavenly teaching\nthat you may carefully select the wheat, and keep it free from the\ndarnel of error. You will require instruction to winnow out of it your\nown thoughts and opinions; for these may not be according to the mind of\nGod. Men are not saved by our word, but by God's word. We need grace to\nlearn the gospel aright, and to teach the whole of it. To different men\nwe must, with discretion, bring forward that part of the word of God\nwhich will best bear upon their consciences; for much may depend upon\nthe word being _in season_.\n\nHaving selected the seed, we shall have plenty of work if we go forth\nand sow it broadcast everywhere, for every day brings its opportunity,\nand every company furnishes its occasion. \"In the morning sow thy seed,\nand in the evening withhold not thy hand.\" \"Sow beside all waters.\"\n\nStill, wise sowers discover favorable opportunities for sowing, and\ngladly seize upon them. There are times when it would clearly be a waste\nto sow; for the soil could not receive it, it is not in a fit condition.\nAfter a shower, or before a shower, or at some such time as he that hath\nstudied husbandry prefers, then must we be up and doing. While we are to\nwork for God always, yet there are seasons when it were casting pearls\nbefore swine to talk of holy things, and there are other times when to\nbe silent would be a great sin. Sluggards in the time for ploughing and\nsowing are sluggards indeed, for they not only waste the day, but throw\naway the year. If you watch for souls, and use hours of happy vantage,\nand moments of sacred softening, you will not complain of the scanty\nspace allowed for agency. Even should you never be called to water, or\nto reap, your office is wide enough if you fulfil the work of the\nsower.\n\nFor little though it seem to teach the simple truth of the gospel, yet\nit is essential. How shall men hear without a teacher? Servants of God,\nthe seed of the word is not like thistle-down, which is borne by every\nwind; but the wheat of the kingdom needs a human hand to sow it, and\nwithout such agency it will not enter into men's hearts, neither can it\nbring forth fruit to the glory of God. The preaching of the gospel is\nthe necessity of every age; God grant that our country may never be\ndeprived of it. Even if the Lord should send us a famine of bread and of\nwater, may he never send us a famine of the word of God. Faith cometh by\nhearing, and how can there be hearing if there is no teaching? Scatter\nye, scatter ye, then, the seed of the kingdom, for this is essential to\nthe harvest.\n\nThis seed should be sown often, for many are the foes of the wheat, and\nif you repeat not your sowing you may never see a harvest. The seed must\nbe sown everywhere, too, for there are no choice corners of the world\nthat you can afford to let alone, in the hope that they will be\nself-productive. You may not leave the rich and intelligent under the\nnotion that surely the gospel will be found among them, for it is not\nso: the pride of life leads them away from God. You may not leave the\npoor and illiterate, and say, \"Surely they will of themselves feel their\nneed of Christ.\" Not so: they will sink from degradation to degradation\nunless you uplift them with the gospel. No tribe of man, no peculiar\nconstitution of the human mind, may be neglected by us; but everywhere\nwe must preach the word, in season and out of season. I have heard that\nCaptain Cook, the celebrated circumnavigator, in whatever part of the\nearth he landed, took with him a little packet of English seeds, and\nscattered them in suitable places. He would leave the boat and wander up\nfrom the shore. He said nothing, but quietly scattered the seeds\nwherever he went, so that he belted the world with the flowers and herbs\nof his native land. Imitate him wherever you go; sow spiritual seed in\nevery place that your foot shall tread upon.\n\nLet us now think of what you cannot do. _You cannot, after the seed has\nleft your hand, cause it to put forth life._ I am sure you cannot make\nit grow, for you do not know how it grows. The text saith, \"And the seed\nshould spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.\" That which is beyond the\nrange of our knowledge is certainly beyond the reach of our power. Can\nyou make a seed germinate? You may place it under circumstances of damp\nand heat which will cause it to swell and break forth with a shoot, but\nthe germination itself is beyond you. How is it done? We know not. After\nthe germ has been put forth, can you make it further grow, and develop\nits life into leaf and stem? No; that, too, is out of your power. And\nwhen the green, grassy blade has been succeeded by the ear, can you\nripen it? It will be ripened; but can _you_ do it? You know you cannot;\nyou can have no finger in the actual process, though you may promote the\nconditions under which it is carried on. Life is a mystery; growth is a\nmystery; ripening is a mystery: and these three mysteries are as\nfountains sealed against all intrusion. How comes it that there is\nwithin the ripe seed the preparations for another sowing and another\ngrowth? What is this vital principle, this secret reproducing energy?\nKnowest thou anything about this? The philosopher may talk about\nchemical combinations, and he may proceed to quote analogies from this\nand that; but still the growth of the seed remains a secret; it springs\nup, he knoweth not how. Certainly this is true of the rise and progress\nof the life of God in the heart. It enters the soul, and roots itself we\nknow not how. Naturally men hate the word, but it enters and it changes\ntheir hearts, so that they come to love it; yet we know not how. Their\nwhole nature is renewed, so that instead of producing sin it yields\nrepentance, faith, and love; but we know not how. How the Spirit of God\ndeals with the mind of man, how he creates the new heart and the right\nspirit, how we are begotten again unto a lively hope, we cannot tell.\nThe Holy Ghost enters into us; we hear not his voice, we see not his\nlight, we feel not his touch; yet he worketh an effectual work upon us,\nwhich we are not long in perceiving. We know that the work of the Spirit\nis a new creation, a resurrection, a quickening from the dead; but all\nthese words are only covers to our utter ignorance of the mode of his\nworking, with which it is not in our power to meddle. We do not know how\nhe performs his miracles of love, and, not knowing how he works, we may\nbe quite sure that we cannot take the work out of his hands. We cannot\ncreate, we cannot quicken, we cannot transform, we cannot regenerate, we\ncannot save.\n\nThis work of God having proceeded in the growth of the seed, what next?\n_We can reap the ripe ears._ After a season God the Holy Spirit uses his\nservants again. As soon as the living seed has produced first of all the\nblade of thought, and afterwards the green ear of conviction, and then\nfaith, which is as full corn in the ear, then the Christian worker comes\nin for further service, for _he can reap_. \"When the fruit is brought\nforth, immediately he putteth in the sickle.\" This is not the reaping of\nthe last great day, for that does not come within the scope of the\nparable, which evidently relates to a human sower and reaper. The kind\nof reaping which the Saviour here intends is that which he referred to\nwhen he said to his disciples, \"Lift up your eyes, and look on the\nfields; for they are white already to harvest.\" After he had been sowing\nthe seed in the hearts of the Samaritans, and it had sprung up, so that\nthey began to evince faith in him, the Lord Jesus cried, \"The fields are\nwhite to harvest.\" The apostle saith, \"One soweth, and another reapeth.\"\nOur Lord said to the disciples, \"I sent you to reap that whereon ye\nbestowed no labor.\" Is there not a promise, \"In due season we shall\nreap, if we faint not\"?\n\nChristian workers begin their harvest work by watching for signs of\nfaith in Christ. They are eager to see the blade, and delighted to mark\nthe ripening ear. They often hope that men are believers, but they long\nto be sure of it; and when they judge that at last the fruit of faith is\nput forth, they begin to encourage, to congratulate, and to comfort.\nThey know that the young believer needs to be housed in the barn of\nChristian fellowship, that he may be saved from a thousand perils. No\nwise farmer leaves the fruit of the field long exposed to the hail which\nmight beat it out, or to the mildew which might destroy it, or to the\nbirds which might devour it. Evidently no believing man should be left\noutside of the garner of holy fellowship; he should be carried into the\nmidst of the church with all the joy which attends the home-bringing of\nsheaves. The worker for Christ watches carefully, and when he discerns\nthat his time is come, he begins at once to fetch in the converts, that\nthey may be cared for by the brotherhood, separated from the world,\nscreened from temptation, and laid up for the Lord. He is diligent to do\nit at once, because the text saith, \"immediately he putteth in the\nsickle.\" He does not wait for months in cold suspicion; he is not afraid\nthat he shall encourage too soon when faith is really present. He comes\nwith the word of promise and the smile of brotherly love at once, and he\nsays to the new believer, \"Have you confessed your faith? Is not the\ntime come for an open confession? Hath not Jesus bidden the believer to\nbe baptized? If you love him, keep his commandments.\" He does not rest\ntill he has introduced the convert to the communion of the faithful. For\nour work, beloved, is but half done when men are made disciples and\nbaptized. We have then to encourage, to instruct, to strengthen, to\nconsole, and succor in all times of difficulty and danger. What saith\nthe Saviour? \"Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations,\nbaptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the\nHoly Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have\ncommanded you.\"\n\nObserve, then, the sphere and limit of agency. We can introduce the\ntruth to men, but that truth the Lord himself must bless; the living and\ngrowing of the word within the soul is of God alone. When the mystic\nwork of growth is done, we are able to garner the saved ones in the\nchurch. For Christ to be formed in men the hope of glory is not of our\nworking, that remains with God; but, when Jesus Christ is formed in\nthem, to discern the image of the Saviour and to say, \"Come in, thou\nblessed of the Lord, wherefore standest thou without?\" this is our duty\nand delight. To create the divine life is God's, to cherish it is ours.\nTo cause the hidden life to grow is the work of the Lord; to see the\nuprising and development of that life and to harvest it is the work of\nthe faithful, even as it is written, \"When the fruit is brought forth,\nimmediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.\"\n\nThis, then, is our first lesson; we see what we can do and what we\ncannot do.\n\n\nII. Our second head is like unto the first, and consists of WHAT WE CAN\nKNOW AND WHAT WE CANNOT KNOW.\n\nFirst, _what we can know_. We can know when we have sown the good seed\nof the word that it will grow; for God has promised that it shall do so.\nNot every grain in every place; for some will go to the bird, and some\nto the worm, and some to be scorched by the sun; but, as a general rule,\nGod's word shall not return unto him void, it shall prosper in the thing\nwhereto he hath sent it. This we can know. And we can know that the seed\nwhen once it takes root will continue to grow; that it is not a dream or\na picture that will disappear, but a thing of force and energy, which\nwill advance from a grassy blade to corn in the ear, and under God's\nblessing will develop to actual salvation, and be as the \"full corn in\nthe ear.\" God helping and blessing it, our work of teaching will not\nonly lead men to thought and conviction, but to conversion and eternal\nlife.\n\nWe also can know, because we are told so, that the reason for this is\nmainly because there is life in the word. In the word of God itself\nthere is life, for it is written--\"The word of God is quick and\npowerful,\" that is, \"living and powerful.\" It is \"the incorruptible\nseed which liveth and abideth for ever.\" It is the nature of living\nseeds to grow; and the reason why the word of God grows in men's hearts\nis because it is the living word of the living God, and where the word\nof a king is there is power. We know this, because the Scriptures teach\nus so. Is it not written, \"Of his own will begat he us by the word of\ntruth\"?\n\nMoreover, the earth, which is here the type of the man, \"bringeth forth\nfruit of herself.\" We must mind what we are at in expounding this, for\nhuman hearts do not produce faith of themselves; they are as hard rock\non which the seed perishes. But it means this--that as the earth under\nthe blessing of the dew and the rain is, by God's secret working upon\nit, made to take up and embrace the seed, so the heart of man is made\nready to receive and enfold the gospel of Jesus Christ within itself.\nMan's awakened heart wants exactly what the word of God supplies. Moved\nby a divine influence the soul embraces the truth, and is embraced by\nit, and so the truth lives in the heart, and is quickened by it. Man's\nlove accepts the love of God; man's faith wrought in him by the Spirit\nof God believes the truth of God; man's hope wrought in him by the Holy\nGhost lays hold upon the things revealed, and so the heavenly seed grows\nin the soil of the soul. The life comes not from you who preach the\nword, but it is placed within the word which you preach by the Holy\nSpirit. The life is not in your hand, but in the heart which is led to\ntake hold upon the truth by the Spirit of God. Salvation comes not from\nthe personal authority of the preacher, but through the personal\nconviction, personal faith, and personal love of the hearer. So much as\nthis we may know, and is it not enough for all practical purposes?\n\nStill, there is _a something which we cannot know_, a secret into which\nwe cannot pry. I repeat what I have said before: you cannot look into\nmen's inward parts and see exactly how the truth takes hold upon the\nheart, or the heart takes hold upon the truth. Many have watched their\nown feelings till they have become blind with despondency, and others\nhave watched the feelings of the young till they have done them rather\nharm than good by their rigorous supervision. In God's work there is\nmore room for faith than for sight. The heavenly seed grows secretly.\nYou must bury it out of sight, or there will be no harvest. Even if you\nkeep the seed above ground, and it does sprout, you cannot discover\n_how_ it grows; even though you microscopically watched its swelling and\nbursting, you could not see the inward vital force which moves the seed.\nThou knowest not the way of the Spirit. His work is wrought in secret.\n\"Explain the new birth,\" says somebody. My answer is, \"Experience the\nnew birth, and you shall know what it is.\" There are secrets into which\nwe cannot enter, for their light is too bright for mortal eyes to\nendure. O man, thou canst not become omniscient, for thou art a\ncreature, and not the Creator. For thee there must ever be a region not\nonly unknown but unknowable. So far shall thy knowledge go, but no\nfarther; and thou mayest thank God it is so, for thus he leaves room for\nfaith, and gives cause for prayer. Cry mightily unto the Great Worker to\ndo what thou canst not attempt to perform, that so, when thou seest men\nsaved, thou mayest give the Lord all the glory evermore.\n\n\nIII. Thirdly, our text tells us WHAT WE MAY EXPECT IF WE WORK FOR GOD,\nAND WHAT WE MAY NOT EXPECT. According to this parable _we may expect to\nsee fruit_. The husbandman casts his seed into the ground: the seed\nsprings and grows, and he naturally expects a harvest. I wish I could\nsay a word to stir up the expectations of Christian workers; for I fear\nthat many work without faith. If you had a garden or a field, and you\nsow seed in it, you would be very greatly surprised and grieved if it\ndid not come up at all; but many Christian people seem quite content to\nwork on without expectation of result. This is a pitiful kind of\nworking--pulling up empty buckets by the year together. Surely, I must\neither see some result for my labor and be glad, or else, failing to see\nit, I must be ready to break my heart if I be a true servant of the\ngreat Master. We ought to have expected results; if we had expected more\nwe should have seen more; but a lack of expectation has been a great\ncause of failure in God's workers.\n\n_But we may not expect to see all the seed which we sow spring up the\nmoment we sow it._ Sometimes, glory be to God, we have but to deliver\nthe word, and straightway men are converted: the reaper overtakes the\nsower, in such instances; but it is not always so. Some sowers have been\ndiligent for years upon their plots of ground, and yet apparently all\nhas been in vain; at last the harvest has come, a harvest which,\nspeaking after the manner of men, had never been reaped if they had not\npersevered to the end. This world, as I believe, is to be converted to\nChrist; but not to-day, nor to-morrow, peradventure not for many an age;\nbut the sowing of the centuries is not being lost, it is working on\ntoward the grand ultimatum. A crop of mushrooms may soon be produced;\nbut a forest of oaks will not reward the planter till generations of his\nchildren have mouldered in the dust. It is ours to sow, and to hope for\nquick reaping; but still we ought to remember that \"the husbandman\nwaiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for\nit, until he receive the early and latter rain,\" and so must we. We are\nto expect results, but not to be dispirited if we have to wait for them.\n\nWe are also to expect to see the good seed grow, but _not always after\nour fashion_. Like children, we are apt to be impatient. Your little boy\nsowed mustard and cress yesterday in his garden. This afternoon Johnny\nwill be turning over the ground to see if the seed is growing. There is\nno probability that his mustard and cress will come to anything, for he\nwill not let it alone long enough for it to grow. So is it with hasty\nworkers; they must see the result of the gospel directly, or else they\ndistrust the blessed word. Certain preachers are in such a hurry that\nthey will allow no time for thought, no space for counting the cost, no\nopportunity for men to consider their ways and turn to the Lord with\nfull purpose of heart. All other seeds take time to grow, but the seed\nof the word must grow before the speaker's eyes like magic, or he thinks\nnothing has been done. Such good brethren are so eager to produce blade\nand ear there and then, that they roast their seed in the fire of\nfanaticism, and it perishes. They make men think that they are\nconverted, and thus effectually hinder them from coming to a saving\nknowledge of the truth. Some men are prevented from being saved by being\ntold that they are saved already, and by being puffed up with a notion\nof perfection when they are not even broken in heart. Perhaps if such\npeople had been taught to look for something deeper they might not have\nbeen satisfied with receiving seed on stony ground; but now they exhibit\na rapid development, and an equally rapid decline and fall. Let us\nbelievingly expect to see the seed grow; but let us look to see it\nadvance after the manner of the preacher--firstly, secondly, thirdly:\nfirst the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.\n\nWe may expect also to see the seed ripen. Our works will by God's grace\nlead up to real faith in those he hath wrought upon by his word and\nSpirit; but _we must not expect to see it perfect at first_. How many\nmistakes have been made here. Here is a young person under impression,\nand some good, sound brother talks with the trembling beginner, and asks\nprofound questions. He shakes his experienced head, and knits his\nfurrowed brows. He goes into the corn-field to see how the crops are\nprospering, and though it is early in the year, he laments that he\ncannot see an ear of corn; indeed, he perceives nothing but mere grass.\n\"I cannot see a trace of corn,\" says he. No, brother, of course you\ncannot; for you will not be satisfied with the blade as an evidence of\nlife, but must insist upon seeing everything at full growth at once. If\nyou had looked for the blade you would have found it; and it would have\nencouraged you. For my own part, I am glad even to perceive a faint\ndesire, a feeble longing, a degree of uneasiness, or a measure of\nweariness of sin, or a craving after mercy. Will it not be wise for you,\nalso, to allow things to begin at the beginning, and to be satisfied\nwith their being small at the first? See the blade of desire, and then\nwatch for more. Soon you shall see a little more than desire; for there\nshall be conviction and resolve, and after that a feeble faith, small\nas a mustard seed, but bound to grow. Do not despise the day of small\nthings. Do not examine the new-born babe to see whether he is sound in\ndoctrine after your idea of soundness; ten to one he is a long way off\nsound, and you will only worry the dear heart by introducing difficult\nquestions. Speak to him about his being a sinner, and Christ a Saviour,\nand you will in this way water him so that his grace in the ear will\nbecome the full corn in the ear. It may be that there is not much that\nlooks like wheat about him yet; but by-and-by you shall say, \"Wheat! ah,\nthat it is, if I know wheat. This man is a true ear of corn, and gladly\nwill I place him among my Master's sheaves.\" If you cut down the blades,\nwhere will the ears come from? Expect grace in your converts; but do not\nlook to see glory in them just yet.\n\n\nIV. Under the last head we shall consider WHAT SLEEP WORKERS MAY TAKE,\nAND WHAT THEY MAY NOT TAKE; for it is said of this sowing man, that he\nsleeps and rises night and day, and the seed springs and grows up he\nknoweth not how. They say a farmer's trade is a good one because it is\ngoing on while he is abed and asleep; and surely ours is a good trade,\ntoo, when we serve our Master by sowing good seed; for it is growing\neven while we are asleep.\n\nBut how may a good workman for Christ lawfully go to sleep? I answer,\nfirst, he may sleep the sleep of _restfulness_ born of confidence. You\nare afraid the kingdom of Christ will not come, are you? Who asked you\nto tremble for the ark of the Lord? Afraid for the infinite Jehovah that\nhis purposes will fail? Shame on you! Your anxiety dishonors your God.\nShall Omnipotence be defeated? You had better sleep than wake to play\nthe part of Uzzah. Rest patiently; God's purpose will be accomplished,\nhis kingdom will come, his chosen will be saved, and Christ shall see of\nthe travail of his soul. Take the sweet sleep which God gives to his\nbeloved, the sleep of perfect confidence, such as Jesus slept in the\nhinder part of the ship when it was tossed with tempest. The cause of\nGod never was in jeopardy, and never will be; the seed sown is insured\nby Omnipotence, and must produce its harvest. In patience possess your\nsoul, and wait till the harvest comes, for the pleasure of the Lord must\nprosper in the hands of Jesus.\n\nAlso take that sleep of _joyful expectancy_ which leads to a happy\nwaking. Get up in the morning and feel that the Lord is ruling all\nthings for the attainment of his own purposes, and the highest benefit\nof all who put their trust in him. Look for a blessing by day, and close\nyour eyes at night calmly expecting to meet with better things\nto-morrow. If you do not sleep you will not wake up in the morning\nrefreshed, and ready for more work. If it were possible for you to sit\nup all night and eat the bread of carefulness you would be unfit to\nattend to the service which your Master appoints for the morning;\ntherefore take your rest and be at peace, and work with calm dignity,\nfor the matter is safe in the Lord's hands. Is it not written, \"So he\ngiveth his beloved sleep\"?\n\nTake your rest because you have consciously resigned your work into\nGod's hands. After you have spoken the word, resort to God in prayer,\nand commit the matter into God's hand, and then do not fret about it.\nIt cannot be in better keeping, leave it with him who worketh all in\nall.\n\nBut do not sleep the sleep of unwatchfulness. The farmer sows his seed,\nbut he does not therefore forget it. He has to mend his fences, to drive\naway birds, to remove weeds, or to prevent floods. He does not watch the\ngrowth of the seed, but he has plenty else to do. He sleeps, but it is\nonly in due time and measure, and is not to be confounded with the\nsluggard's slumbers. He never sleeps the sleep of indifference, or even\nof inaction, for each season has its demand upon him. He has sown one\nfield, but he has another to sow. He has sown, but he has also to reap;\nand if reaping is done, he has to thresh and to winnow. A farmer's work\nis never done, for in one part or the other of the farm he is needed.\nHis sleep is but a pause that gives him strength to continue his\noccupation. The parable teaches us to do all that lies within our\nprovince, but not to intrude into the domain of God: in teaching to the\nera we are to labor diligently, but with regard to the secret working of\ntruth upon man's mind, we are to pray and rest, looking to the Lord for\nthe inward power.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SHEEP BEFORE THE SHEARERS.\n\n\"As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his\nmouth.\"--ISAIAH 53:7.\n\n\nOUR Lord Jesus so took our place that we are in this chapter compared to\nsheep: \"All we like sheep have gone astray,\" and he is compared to a\nsheep also--\"As a sheep before her shearers is dumb.\" It is wonderful\nhow complete was the interchange of positions between Christ and his\npeople, so that he became what they were in order that they might become\nwhat he is. We can well understand how we should be the sheep and he the\nshepherd; but to liken the Son of the Highest to a sheep would have been\nunpardonable presumption had not his own Spirit employed the\ncondescending figure.\n\nThough the emblem is very gracious, its use in this place is by no means\nsingular, for our Lord had been before Isaiah's day typified by the lamb\nof the Passover. Since then he has been proclaimed as \"the Lamb of God\nwhich taketh away the sin of the world;\" and indeed even in his glory he\nis the Lamb in the midst of the throne.\n\n\nI. In opening up this divine emblem I would invite you to consider,\nfirst, OUR SAVIOUR'S PATIENCE, set forth under the figure of a sheep\ndumb before her shearers.\n\nOur Lord was brought to the shearers that he might be shorn of his\ncomfort, and of his honor, shorn even of his good name, and shorn at\nlast of his life itself; but when under the shearers he was as silent as\na sheep. How patient he was before Pilate, and Herod, and Caiaphas, and\non the cross! You have no record of his uttering any exclamation of\nimpatience at the pain and shame which he received at the hands of these\nwicked men. You hear not one bitter word. Pilate cries, \"Answerest thou\nnothing? Behold how many things they witness against thee\"; and Herod is\nwofully disappointed, for he expected to see some miracle wrought by\nhim. All that our Lord does say is in submissive tones, like the\nbleating of a sheep, though infinitely more full of meaning. He utters\nsentences like these--\"For this purpose was I born, and came into the\nworld, that I might bear witness to the truth,\" and, \"Father, forgive\nthem, for they know not what they do.\" Otherwise he is all patience and\nsilence.\n\nRemember, first, that our Lord was dumb and opened not his mouth\n_against his adversaries_, and did not accuse one of them of cruelty or\ninjustice. They slandered him, but he replied not; false witnesses\narose, but he answered them not. One would have thought he must have\nspoken when they spat in his face. Might he not have said, \"Friend, why\ndoest thou this? For which of all my works dost thou insult me?\" But the\ntime for such expostulations was over. When they smote him on the face\nwith the palms of their hands, it would not have been wonderful if he\nhad said, \"Wherefore do you smite me so?\" But no; he is as though he\nheard not their revilings. He brings no accusation to his Father. He\nneeded only to have lifted his eye to heaven, and legions of angels\nwould have chased away the ribald soldiery; one flash of a seraph's wing\nand Herod had been eaten by worms, and Pilate had died the death he well\ndeserved as an unjust judge. The hill of the cross might have become a\nvolcano's mouth to swallow up the whole multitude who stood there\njesting and jeering at him: but no, there was no display of power, or\nrather there was so great a display of power over himself that he\nrestrained Omnipotence itself with a strength which never can be\nmeasured.\n\nAgain, as he did not utter a word against his adversaries, so he did not\nsay a word _against any one of us_. You remember how Zipporah said to\nMoses, \"Surely a bloody husband art thou to me,\" as she saw her child\nbleeding; and surely Jesus might have said to his church, \"Thou art a\ncostly spouse to me, to bring me all this shame and bloodshedding.\" But\nhe giveth liberally, he openeth the very fountain of his heart, and he\nupbraideth not. He had reckoned on the uttermost expenditure, and\ntherefore he endured the cross, despising the shame.\n\n  \"This was compassion like a God,\n     That when the Saviour knew,\n   The price of pardon was his blood,\n     His pity ne'er withdrew.\"\n\nNo doubt he looked across the ages; for that eye of his was not dim,\neven when bloodshot on the tree: he must have foreseen your indifference\nand mine, our coldness of heart, and base unfaithfulness, and he might\nhave left on record some such words as these: \"I am suffering for those\nwho are utterly unworthy of my regard; their love will be a miserable\nreturn for mine. Though I give my whole heart for them, how lukewarm is\ntheir love to me! I am sick of them, I am weary of them, and it is woe\nto me that I should be laying down my heart's blood for such a worthless\nrace as these my people are.\" But there is not a hint of such a feeling.\nNo. \"Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto\nthe end,\" and he did not utter a syllable that looked like murmuring at\nhis suffering on their behalf, or regretting that he had commenced the\nwork.\n\nAnd again, as there was not a word against his adversaries, nor a word\nagainst you nor me, so their was not a word _against his Father_, nor a\nsyllable of repining at the severity of the chastisement laid upon him\nfor our sakes. You and I have murmured when under a comparatively light\ngrief, thinking ourselves hardly done by. We have dared to cry out\nagainst God, \"My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the\nshadow of death; not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is\npure.\" But not so the Saviour; in his mouth were no complaints. It is\nquite impossible for us to conceive how the Father pressed and bruised\nhim, yet was there no repining. \"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken\nme?\" is an exclamation of astonished grief, but it is not the voice of\ncomplaint. It shows manhood in weakness, but not manhood in revolt. Many\nare the Lamentations of Jeremiah, but few are the lamentations of Jesus.\nJesus wept, and Jesus sweat great drops of blood, but he never murmured\nnor felt rebellion in his heart.\n\nBehold your Lord and Saviour lying in passive resignation beneath the\nshearers, as they take away everything that is dear to him, and yet he\nopeneth not his mouth. I see in this our Lord's _complete submission_.\nHe gives himself up; there is no reserve about it. The sacrifice did not\nneed binding with cords to the horns of the altar. How different from\nyour case and mine! He stood there willing to suffer, to be spit upon,\nto be shamefully entreated, and to die, for in him there was a complete\nsurrender. He was wholly given to do the Father's will, and to work out\nour redemption. There was _complete self-conquest_ too. In him no\nfaculty arose to plead for liberty, and ask to be exempted from the\ngeneral strain; no limb of the body, no portion of the mind, no faculty\nof the spirit started, but all submitted to the divine will: the whole\nChrist gave up his whole being unto God, that he might perfectly offer\nhimself without spot for our redemption.\n\nThere was not only self-conquest, but _complete absorption in his work_.\nThe sheep, lying there, thinks no more of the pastures, it yields itself\nup to the shearer. The zeal of God's house did eat up our Lord in\nPilate's hall as well as everywhere else, for there he witnessed a good\nconfession. No thought had he but for the clearing of the divine honor,\nand the salvation of God's elect. Brethren, I wish we could arrive at\nthis, to submit our whole spirit to God, to learn self-conquest, and the\ndelivering up of conquered self entirely to God.\n\nThe wonderful serenity and submissiveness of our Lord are still better\nset forth by our text, if it be indeed true that sheep in the East are\neven more docile than with us. Those who have seen the noise and\nroughness of many of our washings and shearings will hardly believe the\ntestimony of that ancient writer Philo-Jud\u00e6us when he affirms that the\nsheep came voluntarily to be shorn. He says: \"Woolly rams laden with\nthick fleeces put themselves into the shepherd's hands to have their\nwool shorn, being thus accustomed to pay their yearly tribute to man,\ntheir king by nature. The sheep stands in a silent inclining posture,\nunconstrained under the hand of the shearer. These things may appear\nstrange to those who do not know the docility of the sheep, but they are\ntrue.\" Marvellous indeed was this submissiveness in our Lord's case; let\nus admire and imitate.\n\n\nII. Thus I have feebly set forth the patience of our beloved Master. Now\nI want you to follow me, in the second place, to VIEW OUR OWN CASE UNDER\nTHE SAME METAPHOR AS THAT WHICH IS USED IN REFERENCE TO OUR LORD.\n\nDid I not begin by saying that because we were sheep he deigns to\ncompare himself to a sheep? Let us look from another point of view; our\nLord was a sheep under the shearers, and as he is so are we also in this\nworld. Though we shall never be offered up like lambs in the temple by\nway of expiation, yet the saints for ages were the flock of slaughter,\nas it is written, \"For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are\naccounted as sheep for the slaughter!\" Jesus sends us forth as sheep in\nthe midst of wolves, and we are to regard ourselves as living\nsacrifices, ready to be offered up. I dwell, however, more particularly\nupon the second symbol: we are brought as sheep under the shearers'\nhands.\n\nJust as a sheep is taken by the shearer, and its wool is all cut off, so\ndoth the Lord take his people and shear them, taking away all their\nearthly comforts, and leaving them bare. I wish when it came to our turn\nto undergo this shearing operation it could be said of us as of our\nLord, \"As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his\nmouth.\" I fear that we open our mouths a great deal, and make no end of\ncomplaining without any apparent cause, or with the very slenderest\nreason. But now to the figure.\n\nFirst, remember that _a sheep rewards its owner for all his care and\ntrouble by being shorn_. There is nothing else that I know of that a\nsheep can do. It yields food when it is killed, but while it is alive\nthe one payment that the sheep can make to the shepherd is to yield its\nfleece in due season. Some of God's people can give to Christ a tribute\nof gratitude by active service, and they should do so gladly every day\nof their lives; but many others cannot do much in active service, and\nabout the only reward they can give to their Lord is to render up their\nfleece by suffering when he calls upon them to suffer, submissively\nyielding to be shorn of their personal comfort when the time comes for\npatient endurance.\n\nHere comes the shearer; he takes the sheep and begins to cut, cut, cut,\ncut, taking away the wool wholesale. Affliction is often used as the big\nshears. The husband, or perhaps the wife, is removed, little children\nare taken away, property is shorn off, and health is gone. Sometimes the\nshears cut off the man's good name; slander follows; comforts vanish.\nWell, this is your shearing time, and it may be that you are not able to\nglorify God to any very large extent except by undergoing this process.\nIf this be the fact, do you not think that we, like good sheep of\nChrist, should surrender ourselves cheerfully, feeling, \"I lay myself\ndown with this intent, that thou shouldst take from me anything and\neverything, and do what thou wilt with me; for I am not mine own, I am\nbought with a price\"?\n\nNotice that the sheep is itself _benefited by the operation of\nshearing_. Before they begin to shear the sheep the wool is long and\nold, and every bush and brier tears off a bit of the wool, until the\nsheep looks ragged and forlorn.\n\nIf the wool were left, when the heat of summer came the sheep would not\nbe able to bear itself, it would be so overloaded with clothing that it\nwould be as uncomfortable as we are when we have kept on our borrowed\nwool, our flannels and broadcloths, too late. So, brethren, when the\nLord shears us, we do not like the operation any more than the sheep do;\nbut first, it is for _his glory_; and secondly, it is for _our benefit_,\nand therefore we are bound most willingly to submit. There are many\nthings which we should have liked to have kept which, if we had kept\nthem, would not have proved blessings but curses. A stale blessing is a\ncurse. The manna, though it came from heaven, was only good so long as\nGod's command made it a blessing, but when they kept it over its due\ntime it bred worms and stank, and then it was no blessing. Many persons\nwould keep their mercies till they turn to corruption; but God will not\nhave it so. Up to a certain point for you to be wealthy was a blessing;\nit would not have been a blessing any longer, and so the Lord took your\nriches away. Up to that point your child was a boon, but it would have\nbeen no longer so, and therefore it fell sick and died. You may not be\nable to see it, but it is so, that God, when he withdraws a blessing\nfrom his people, takes it away because it would not be a blessing any\nlonger.\n\nBefore sheep are shorn _they are always washed_. Were you ever present\nat the scene when they drive them down to the brook? Men are placed in\nrows, leading to the shepherd who stands in the water. The sheep are\ndriven down, and the men seize them, throw them into the pool, keeping\ntheir faces above water, and swirl them round and round and round to\nwash the wool before they clip it off. You see them come out on the\nother side frightened to death, poor things, wondering whatever is\ncoming. I want to suggest to you, brethren, that whenever a trial\nthreatens to overtake you, you should entreat the Lord to sanctify it to\nyou. If the good Shepherd is going to clip your wool, ask him to wash it\nbefore he takes it off; ask to be cleansed in spirit, soul, and body.\nThat is a very good custom Christian people have of asking a blessing on\ntheir meals before they eat bread. Do you not think it is even more\nnecessary to ask a blessing on our troubles before we get into them?\nHere is your dear child likely to die; will you not, dear parents, meet\ntogether and ask God to bless the death of that child, if it is to\nhappen? The harvest fails; would it not be well to say--\"Lord, sanctify\nthis poverty, this loss, this year's bad harvest: cause it to be a means\nof grace to us.\" Why not ask a blessing on the cup of bitterness as well\nas upon the cup of thanksgiving? Ask to be washed before you are shorn,\nand if the shearing must come, let it be your chief concern to yield\nclean wool.\n\nAfter the washing, when the sheep has been dried, it actually _loses\nwhat was its comfort_. The sheep is thrown down, and the shearers get to\nwork; the poor creature is losing its comfortable fleece. You also will\nhave to part with your comforts. Will you recollect this? The next time\nyou receive a fresh blessing call it a loan. Poor sheep, there is no\nwool on your back but what will have to come off; child of God, there is\nno earthly comfort in your possession but what will either leave you,\nor you will leave it. Nothing is our own except our God. \"Why,\" says\none, \"not our sin?\" Sin was our own, but Jesus has taken it upon\nhimself, and it is gone. There is nothing our own but our God, for all\nhis gifts are held on lease, terminable at his sovereign will. We\nfoolishly consider that our mercies belong to us, and when the Lord\ntakes them away we half grumble. A loan, they say, should go laughing\nhome, and so should we rejoice when the Lord takes back that which he\nhad lent us. All our possessions are but brief favors borrowed for the\nhour. As the sheep yields up its wool and so loses its comfort, so must\nwe yield up all our earthly properties; or if they remain with us till\nwe die, we shall part with them then, we shall not take so much as one\nof them across the stream of death.\n\nThe shearers _take care not to hurt the sheep_; they clip as close as\nthey can, but they do not cut the skin. If possible, they will not draw\nblood, even in the smallest degree. When they do make a gash, it is\nbecause the sheep does not lie still; but a careful shearer has\nbloodless shears. Of this Thomson sings in his \"Seasons,\" and the\npassage is so good an illustration of the whole subject that I will\nadorn my discourse with it:\n\n  \"How meek, how patient, the mild creature lies!\n   What softness in its melancholy face,\n   What dumb complaining innocence appears!\n   Fear not, ye gentle tribes! 'tis not the knife\n   Of horrid slaughter that is o'er you waved;\n   No, 'tis the tender swain's well guided shears,\n   Who having now, to pay his annual care,\n   Borrow'd your fleece, to you a cumbrous load,\n   Will send you bounding to your hills again.\"\n\nIt is the kicking and the struggling that make the shearing work at all\nhard, but if we are dumb before the shearers no harm can come. The Lord\nmay clip wonderfully close; I have known him clip some so close that\nthey did not seem to have a bit of wool left, for they were stripped\nentirely, even as Job when he cried, \"Naked came I out of my mother's\nwomb, and naked shall I return thither.\" Still, like Job, they have\nadded, \"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name\nof the Lord.\"\n\nNotice that the shearers always _shear at a suitable time_. It would be\na very wicked, cruel, and unwise thing to begin sheep-shearing in winter\ntime. There is a proverb which talks about God \"tempering the wind to\nthe shorn lamb.\" It may be so, but it is a very cruel practice to shear\nlambs while winds need tempering. Sheep are shorn when it is warm,\ngenial weather, when they can afford to lose their fleeces, and are all\nthe better for being relieved of them. As the summer comes on\nsheep-shearing time comes. Have you ever noticed that whenever the Lord\nafflicts us he selects the best possible time? There is a prayer that he\nputs into his disciples' mouths, \"Pray that your flight be not in the\nwinter;\" the spirit of that prayer may be seen in the seasonableness of\nour sorrows. He will not send us our worst troubles at our worst times.\nIf your soul is depressed the Lord does not send you a very heavy\nburden; he reserves such a load for times when you have joy in the Lord\nto be your strength. It has come to be a kind of feeling with us that\nwhen we have much delight a trial is near, but when sorrow thickens\ndeliverance is approaching. The Lord does not send us two burdens at a\ntime; or, if he does, he sends double strength. His shearing time is\nchosen with tender discretion.\n\nThere is another thing to remember. It is with us as with the sheep,\n_there is new wool coming_. Whenever the Lord takes away our earthly\ncomforts with one hand, one, two, three, he restores with the other hand\nsix, a score, a hundred; we are crying and whining about the little\nloss, and yet it is necessary in order that we may be able to receive\nthe great gain. Yes, it will be so, we shall have cause for rejoicing,\n\"joy cometh in the morning.\" If we have lost one position, there is\nanother for us; if we have been driven out of one place, a better refuge\nis prepared. Providence opens a second door when it shuts the first. If\nthe Lord takes away the manna, as he did from his people Israel, it is\nbecause they have the old corn of the land of Canaan to live upon. If\nthe water of the rock did not follow the tribes any longer, it was\nbecause they drank of the Jordan, and of the brooks. O sheep of the\nLord's fold, there is new wool coming: therefore do not fret at the\nshearing. I have given these thoughts in brief, that we may come to the\nlast word.\n\n\nIII. Let us, in the third place, endeavor to IMITATE THE EXAMPLE OF OUR\nBLESSED LORD WHEN OUR TURN COMES TO BE SHORN. Let us be dumb before the\nshearers, submissive, quiescent, even as he was.\n\nI have been giving, in everything I have said, a reason for so doing. I\nhave shown that our shearing by affliction glorifies God, rewards the\nShepherd, and benefits ourselves. I have shown that the Lord measures\nand tempers our affliction, and sends the trial at the right time. I\nhave shown you in many ways that it will be wise to submit ourselves as\nthe sheep does to the shearer, and that the more completely we do so the\nbetter.\n\nWe struggle far too much, and we are apt to make excuses for so doing.\nSometimes we say, \"Oh, this is so painful, I cannot be patient! I could\nhave borne anything else but this.\" When a father is going to correct\nhis child, does he select something pleasant? No. The painfulness of the\npunishment is the essence of it, and even so the bitterness of our\nsorrow is the soul of our chastening. By the blueness of the wound the\nheart will be made better. Do not repine because your trial seems\nstrange and sharp. That would in fact be saying, \"If I have it all my\nown way I will, but if everything does not please me I will rebel;\" and\nthat is not a fit spirit for a child of God.\n\nSometimes we complain because of our great weakness. \"Lord, were I\nstronger I would not mind this heavy loss; but I am frail as a sere leaf\ndriven of the tempest.\" But who is to be the judge of the suitability of\nyour trial? You or God? Since the Lord judges this trial to be suitable\nto your weakness, you may be sure that it is so. Lie still! Lie still!\n\"Alas,\" you say, \"my grief comes from the most cruel quarter; this\ntrouble did not arise directly from God, it came through my cousin or my\nbrother who ought to have treated me with gratitude. It was not an\nenemy; then I could have borne it.\" My brother, let me assure you that\nin reality trial comes not from an enemy after all. God is at the bottom\nof all your tribulation; look through the second causes to the great\nFirst Cause. It is a great mistake when we fret over the human\ninstrument which smites us, and forget the hand which uses the rod. If I\nstrike a dog, he bites my stick; poor creature, he knows no better; but\nif he could think a little he would bite _me_, or else take the blow\nsubmissively. Now, you must not begin biting the stick. After all, it\nis your heavenly Father that uses the staff; though it be of ebony or of\nblackthorn, it is in his hand. It is well to have done with picking and\nchoosing our trials, and to leave the whole matter in the hand of\ninfinite wisdom. A sweet singer has put this matter very prettily; let\nme quote the lines:\n\n  \"But when my Lord did ask me on what side\n             I were content,\n   The grief whereby I must be purified,\n             To me was sent,\n\n  \"As each imagined anguish did appear,\n             Each withering bliss\n   Before my soul, I cried, 'Oh! spare me here,\n             Oh, no, not this!'\n\n  \"Like one that having need of, deep within,\n             The surgeon's knife,\n   Would hardly bear that it should graze the skin,\n             Though for his life.\n\n  \"Nay, then, but he, who best doth understand\n             Both what we need,\n   And what can bear, did take my case in hand,\n             Nor crying heed.\"\n\nThis is the pith of my sermon: oh, believer, yield thyself! Lie passive\nin the hands of God! Yield thee, and struggle not! There is no use in\nstruggling, for our great Shearer, if he means to shear, will do it. Did\nI not say just now that the sheep, by struggling, might be cut by the\nshears? So you and I, if we struggle against God, will get two strokes\ninstead of one; and after all there is not half so much trouble in a\ntrouble as there is in kicking against the trouble. The Eastern\nploughman has a goad, and pricks the ox to make it move more actively;\nhe does not hurt it much by his gentle prodding, but suppose the ox\nflings out its leg the moment it touches him, he drives the goad into\nhimself, and bleeds. So it is with us, we shall find it hard to kick\nagainst the pricks; we shall endure much more pain by rebelling than\nwould have come if we had yielded to the divine will. What good comes of\nfretting? We cannot make one hair white or black. You that are troubled,\nrest with us, for you cannot make shower or shine, foul or fair, with\nall your groaning. Did you ever bring a penny into the till by fretting,\nor put a loaf on the table by complaint? Murmuring is wasted breath, and\nfretting is wasted time. To lie passive in the hand of God brings a\nblessing to the soul. I would myself be more quiet, calm, and\nself-possessed. I long to cry habitually, \"Lord, do what thou wilt, when\nthou wilt, as thou wilt, with me, thy servant; appoint me honor or\ndishonor, wealth or poverty, sickness or health, exhilaration or\ndepression, and I will take all right gladly from thy hand.\" A man is\nnot far from the gates of heaven when he is fully submissive to the\nLord's will.\n\nYou that have been shorn have, I hope, received comfort through the ever\nblessed Spirit of God. May God bless you. Oh that the sinner, too, would\nhumble himself under the mighty hand of God! Submit yourselves unto God,\nlet every thought be brought into captivity to him, and the Lord send\nhis blessing, for Christ's sake. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nIN THE HAY-FIELD.\n\n\"He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle.\"--PSALM 104:14.\n\n\nAT the appointed season all the world is busy with ingathering the grass\ncrop, and you can scarcely ride a mile in the country without scenting\nthe delicious fragrance of the new-mown hay, and hearing the sharpening\nof the mower's scythe. There is a gospel in the hay-field, and that\ngospel we intend to bring out as we may be enabled by the Holy Spirit.\n\nOur text conducts us at once to the spot, and we shall therefore need no\npreface. \"He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle\"--three things we\nshall notice; first, that _grass is in itself instructive_; secondly,\nthat _grass is far more so when God is seen in it_; and thirdly, that\n_by the growth of grass for the cattle, the ways of grace may be\nillustrated_.\n\n\nI. First, then, \"He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle.\" Here we\nhave SOMETHING WHICH IS IN ITSELF INSTRUCTIVE. Scarcely any emblem, with\nthe exception of water and light, is more frequently used by inspiration\nthan the grass of the field.\n\nIn the first place, the grass may be instructively looked upon as _the\nsymbol of our mortality_. \"All flesh is grass.\" The whole history of man\nmay be seen in the meadow. He springs up green and tender, subject to\nthe frosts of infancy, which imperil his young life; he grows, he comes\nto maturity, he puts on beauty even as the grass is adorned with\nflowers; but after a while his strength departs and his beauty is\nwrinkled, even as the grass withers and is followed by a fresh\ngeneration, which withers in its turn. Like ourselves, the grass ripens\nbut to decay. The sons of men come to maturity in due time, and then\ndecline and wither as the green herb. Some of the grass is not left to\ncome to ripeness at all, but the mower's scythe removes it, even as\nswift-footed death overtakes the careless children of Adam. \"In the\nmorning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down,\nand withereth. For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are\nwe troubled.\" \"As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the\nfield, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;\nand the place thereof shall know it no more.\" This is very humbling; and\nwe need frequently to be reminded of it, or we dream of immortality\nbeneath the stars. We ought never to tread upon the grass without\nremembering that whereas the green sod covers our graves, it also\nreminds us of them, and preaches by every blade a sermon to us\nconcerning our mortality, of which the text is, \"All flesh is grass, and\nall the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.\"\n\nIn the second place, grass is frequently used in Scripture as _an emblem\nof the wicked_. David tells us from his own experience that the\nrighteous man is apt to grow envious of the wicked when he sees the\nprosperity of the ungodly. We have seen them spreading themselves like\ngreen bay trees, and apparently fixed and rooted in their places; and\nwhen we have smarted under our own troubles, and felt that all the day\nlong we were scourged, and chastened every morning, we have been apt to\nsay, \"How can this be consistent with the righteous government of God?\"\nWe are reminded by the Psalmist that in a short time we shall pass by\nthe place of the wicked, and lo, he shall not be; we shall diligently\nconsider his place, and lo, it shall not be; for he is soon cut down as\nthe grass, and withereth as the green herb. The grass withereth, the\nflower thereof fadeth away, and even so shall pass away forever the\nglory of those who build upon the estate of time, and dig for lasting\ncomfort in the mines of the earth. As the Eastern husbandman gathers up\nthe green herb, and, despite its former beauty, casts it into the\nfurnace, such must be your lot, O vainglorious sinners! Thus will the\njudge command his angels, \"Bind them in bundles to burn.\" Where now your\nmerriment? Where now your confidence? Where now your pride and your\npomp? Where now your boastings and your loud-mouthed blasphemies? They\nare silent for ever; for, as thorns crackle under a pot, but are\nspeedily consumed, and leave nothing except a handful of ashes, so shall\nit be with the wicked as to this life; the fire of God's wrath shall\ndevour them.\n\nIt is more pleasing to recollect that the grass is used in Scripture as\n_a picture of the elect of God_. The wicked are comparable to the\ndragons of the wilderness, but God's own people shall spring up in their\nplace, for it is written, \"In the habitation of dragons, where each lay,\nshall be grass with reeds and rushes.\" The elect are compared to grass,\nbecause of their number as they shall be in the latter days, and because\nof the rapidity of their growth. You remember the passage, \"There shall\nbe a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains: the\nfruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall\nflourish like grass of the earth.\" O that the long expected day might\nsoon come, when God's people shall no longer be like a lone tuft of\ngrass, but when they shall spring up as among the grass, as \"willows by\nthe water-courses.\" Grass and willows are two of the fastest growing\nthings we know of; so shall a nation be born in a day, so shall crowds\nbe converted at once; for when the Spirit of God shall be mightily at\nwork in the midst of the church, men shall fly unto Christ as doves fly\nto their dovecots, so that the astonished church shall exclaim, \"These,\nwhere had they been?\" O that we might live to see the age of gold, the\ntime which prophets have foretold, when the company of God's people\nshall be innumerable as the blades of grass in the meadows, and grace\nand truth shall flourish.\n\nHow like the grass are God's people for this reason, that they are\nabsolutely dependent upon the influences of heaven! Our fields are\nparched if vernal showers and gentle dews are withheld, and what are our\nsouls without the gracious visitations of the Spirit? Sometimes through\nsevere trials our wounded hearts are like the mown grass, and then we\nhave the promise, \"He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as\nshowers that water the earth.\" Our sharp troubles have taken away our\nbeauty, and lo, the Lord visits us, and we revive again. Thank God for\nthat old saying, which is a gracious doctrine as well as a true proverb,\n\"Each blade of grass has its own drop of dew.\" God is pleased to give\nhis own peculiar mercies to each one of his own servants. \"Thy blessing\nis upon thy people.\"\n\nOnce again, grass is comparable to _the food where-with the Lord\nsupplies the necessities of his chosen ones_. Take the twenty-third\nPsalm, and you have the metaphor worked out in the sweetest form of\npastoral song: \"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth\nme beside the still waters.\" Just as the sheep has nourishment according\nto its nature, and this nourishment is abundantly found for it by its\nshepherd, so that it not only feeds, but then lies down in the midst of\nthe fodder, satiated with plenty, and perfectly content and at ease;\neven so are the people of God when Jesus Christ leads them into the\npastures of the covenant, and opens up to them the precious truths upon\nwhich their souls shall be fed. Beloved, have we not proved that promise\ntrue, \"In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a\nfeast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of\nmarrow, of wines on the lees well refined\"? My soul has sometimes fed\nupon Christ till I have felt as if I could receive no more, and then I\nhave laid me down in the bounty of my God to take my rest, satisfied\nwith favor, and full of the goodness of the Lord.\n\nThus, you see, the grass itself is not without instruction for those who\nwill incline their ear.\n\n\nII. In the second place, GOD IS SEEN IN THE GROWING OF THE GRASS. He is\nseen first as a worker, \"He _causeth_ the grass to grow.\" He is seen\nsecondly as a caretaker, \"He causeth the grass to grow _for the\ncattle_.\"\n\n1. First, as a _worker_, God is to be seen in every blade of grass, if\nwe have but eyes to discern him. A blind world this, which always talks\nabout \"natural laws,\" and \"the effects of natural causes,\" but forgets\nthat laws cannot operate of themselves, and that natural causes, so\ncalled, are not causes at all unless the First Cause shall set them in\nmotion. The old Romans used to say, _God_ thundered; _God_ rained. We\nsay _it_ thunders; _it_ rains. What \"it\"? All these expressions are\nsubterfuges to escape from the thought of God. We commonly say, \"How\nwonderful are the works of _nature_!\" What is \"nature\"? Do you know what\n_nature_ is? I remember a lecturer in the street, an infidel, speaking\nabout nature, and he was asked by a Christian man standing by whether he\nwould tell him what nature was. He never gave a reply. The production of\ngrass is not the result of natural law apart from the actual work of\nGod; mere law would be inoperative unless the great Master himself sent\na thrill of power through the matter which is regulated by the\nlaw--unless, like the steam engine, which puts force into all the\nspinning-jennies and wheels of a cotton mill, God himself were the\nmotive power to make every wheel revolve. I find rest on the grass as on\na royal couch, now that I know that my God is there at work for his\ncreatures.\n\nHaving asked you to see God as a worker, I want you to make use of\nthis--therefore I bid you to see God in _common things_. He makes the\ngrass to grow--grass is a common thing. You see it everywhere, yet God\nis in it. Dissect it and pull it to pieces; the attributes of God are\nillustrated in every single flower of the field, and in every green\nleaf. In like manner see God in your common matters, your daily\nafflictions, your common joys, your everyday mercies. Do not say, \"I\nmust see a miracle before I see God.\" In truth everything teems with\nmarvel. See God in the bread of your table and the water of your cup.\nIt will be the happiest way of living if you can say in each\nprovidential circumstance, \"My Father has done all this.\" See God also\nin _little things_. The little things of life are the greatest troubles.\nA man will hear that his house is burned down more quietly than he will\nsee an ill-cooked joint of meat upon his table, when he reckoned upon\nits being done to a turn. It is the _little_ stone in the shoe which\nmakes the pilgrim limp. To see God in little things, to believe that\nthere is as much the presence of God in a limb falling from the elm as\nin the avalanche which crushes a village; to believe that the guidance\nof every drop of spray, when the wave breaks on the rock, is as much\nunder the hand of God, as the steerage of the mightiest planet in its\ncourse; to see God in the little as well as in the great--all this is\ntrue wisdom.\n\nThink, too, of God working among _solitary things_; for grass does not\nmerely grow where men take care of it, but up there on the side of the\nlone Alp, where no traveller has ever passed. Where only the eye of the\nwild bird has beheld their lonely verdure, moss and grass display their\nbeauty; for God's works are fair to other eyes than those of mortals.\nAnd you, solitary child of God, dwelling, unknown and obscure, in a\nremote hamlet; you are not forgotten by the love of heaven. He maketh\nthe grass to grow all alone, and shall he not make you flourish despite\nyour loneliness? He can bring forth your graces and educate you for the\nskies in solitude and neglect. The grass, you know, is a thing we tread\nupon, nobody thinks of its being crushed by the foot, and yet God makes\nit grow. Perhaps you are oppressed and down-trodden, but let not this\ndepress your spirit, for God executeth righteousness for all those that\nare oppressed; he maketh the grass to grow, and he can make your heart\nto flourish under all the oppressions and afflictions of life, so that\nyou shall still be happy and holy though all the world marches over you;\nstill living in the immortal life which God himself bestows upon you,\nthough hell itself set its heel upon you. Poor and needy one, unknown,\nunobserved, oppressed and down-trodden, God makes the grass to grow, and\nhe will take care of you.\n\n2. But I said we should see in the text God also as a great _caretaker_.\n\"He causeth the grass to grow _for the cattle_.\" \"Doth God take care for\noxen? Or saith he it altogether for our sakes?\" \"Thou shalt not muzzle\nthe mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn,\" shows that God has a\ncare for the beasts of the field; but it shows much more than that,\nnamely that he would have those who work for him feed as they work. God\ncares for the beasts, and makes grass to grow for them. Then, my soul,\nthough sometimes thou hast said with David, \"So foolish was I, and\nignorant: I was as a beast before thee,\" yet God cares for thee. \"He\ngiveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry\"--there\nyou have an instance of his care for birds, and here we have his care\nfor beasts; and though you, my hearer, may seem to yourself to be as\nblack and defiled as a raven, and as far from anything spiritually good\nas the beasts, yet take comfort from this text; he gives grass to the\ncattle, and he will give grace to you, though you think yourself to be\nas a beast before him.\n\nObserve, he cares for these beasts who are _helpless_ as to caring for\nthemselves. The cattle could not plant the grass, nor cause it to grow.\nThough they can do nothing in the matter, yet he does it all for them;\n_he_ causeth the grass to grow. You who are as helpless as cattle to\nhelp yourselves, who can only stand and moan out your misery, but know\nnot what to do, God can prevent you in his loving-kindness, and favor\nyou in his tenderness. Let the bleatings of your prayer go up to heaven,\nlet the meanings of your desires go up to him, and help shall come to\nyou though you cannot help yourselves. Beasts are _dumb, speechless\nthings_, yet God makes the grass grow for them. Will he hear those that\ncannot speak, and will he not hear those who can? Since our God views\nwith kind consideration the cattle in the field, he will surely have\ncompassion upon his own sons and daughters when they desire to seek his\nface.\n\nThere is this also to be said, God not only cares for cattle, but _the\nfood_ which he provides for them is fit food--he causeth _grass_ to grow\nfor the cattle, just the sort of food which ruminants require. Even thus\nthe Lord God provides fit sustenance for his people. Depend upon him by\nfaith and wait upon him in prayer, and you shall have food convenient\nfor you. You shall find in God's mercy just that which your nature\ndemands, suitable supplies for peculiar wants.\n\nThis \"convenient\" food the Lord takes care to reserve for the cattle,\nfor no one eats the cattle's food but the cattle. There is grass for\nthem, and nobody else cares for it, and thus it is kept for them; even\nso God has a special food for his own people; \"the secret of the Lord is\nwith them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.\" Though the\ngrass be free to all who choose to eat it, yet no creature careth for it\nexcept the cattle for whom it is prepared; and though the grace of God\nbe free to all men, yet no man careth for it except the elect of God,\nfor whom he prepared it, and whom he prepares to receive it. There is as\nmuch reserve of the grass for the cattle as if there were walls around\nit; and so, though the grace of God be free, and there be no bound set\nabout it, yet it is as much reserved as if it were restricted.\n\nGod is seen in the grass as the worker and the caretaker; then _let us\nsee his hand in providence at all times_. Let us see it, not only when\nwe have abundance, but even when we have scant supplies; for the grass\nis preparing for the cattle even in the depth of winter. And you, ye\nsons of sorrow, in your trials and troubles, are still cared for by God;\nhe will accomplish his own divinely gracious purposes in you; only be\nstill and see the salvation of God. Every winter's night has a direct\nconnection with the joyous days of mowing and reaping, and each time of\ngrief is linked to future joy.\n\n\nIII. Our third head is most interesting. GOD'S WORKING IN THE GRASS FOR\nTHE CATTLE GIVES US ILLUSTRATIONS CONCERNING GRACE.\n\nI will soliloquize, and say to myself as I read the text, \"He causeth\nthe grass to grow for the cattle. In this I perceive a satisfying\nprovision for that form of creature. I am also a creature, but I am a\nnobler creature than the cattle. I cannot imagine for a moment that God\nwill provide all that the cattle need and not provide for me. But\nnaturally I feel uneasy; I cannot find in this world what I want--if I\nwere to win all its riches I should still be discontented; and when I\nhave all that heart could wish of time's treasures, yet still my heart\nfeels as if it were empty. There must be somewhere or other something\nthat will satisfy me as a man with an immortal soul. God altogether\nsatisfies the ox; he must therefore have something or other that would\naltogether satisfy me if I could get it. There is the grass, the cattle\nget it, and when they have eaten their share, they lie down and seem\nperfectly contented; now, all I have ever found on earth has never\nsatisfied me so that I could lie down and be satisfied; there must,\nthen, be something somewhere that would content me if I could get at\nit.\" Is not this good reasoning? I ask both the Christian and the\nunbeliever to go with me so far; but then let us proceed another step:\nThe cattle do get what they want--not only is the grass provided, but\nthey get it. Why should not I obtain what I want? I find my soul\nhungering and thirsting after something more than I can see with my eyes\nor hear with my ears; there must be something to satisfy my soul, why\nshould I not find it? The cattle pasture upon that which satisfies them;\nwhy should not I obtain satisfaction too? Then I begin to pray, \"O Lord,\nsatisfy my mouth with good things, and renew my youth.\"\n\nWhile I am praying I also meditate and think--God has provided for\ncattle that which is consonant to their nature; they are nothing but\nflesh, and flesh is grass, there is therefore grass for their flesh. I\nalso am flesh, but I am something else beside; I am spirit, and to\nsatisfy me I need spiritual meat. Where is it? When I turn to God's\nword, I find there that though the grass withereth, the word of the Lord\nendureth for ever; and the word which Jesus speaks unto us is spirit and\nlife. \"Oh! then,\" I say, \"here is spiritual food for my spiritual\nnature, I will rejoice therein.\" O may God help me to know what that\nspiritual meat is, and enable me to lay hold upon it, for I perceive\nthat though God provides the grass for the cattle, _the cattle must eat\nit themselves_. They are not fed if they refuse to eat. I must imitate\nthe cattle, and receive that which God provides for me. What do I find\nprovided in Scripture? I am told that the Lord Jesus came into this\nworld to suffer, and bleed, and die instead of me, and that if I trust\nin him I shall be saved; and, being saved, the thoughts of his love will\ngive solace and joy to me and be my strength. What have I to do but to\nfeed on these truths? I do not find the cattle bringing any preparation\nto the pasture except hunger, but they enter it and partake of their\nportion. Even so must I by an act of faith live upon Jesus. Lord, give\nme grace to feed upon Christ; make me hungry and thirsty after him; give\nme the faith by which I may be a receiver of him, that so I may be\nsatisfied with favor, and full of the goodness of the Lord.\n\nMy text, though it looked small, grows as we meditate upon it. I want to\nintroduce you to a few more illustrations of divine grace. _Preventing\ngrace may here be seen in a symbol._ Grass grew before cattle were made.\nWe find in the first chapter of Genesis that God provided the grass\nbefore he created the cattle. And what a mercy that covenant supplies\nfor God's people were prepared before they were born. God had given his\nSon Jesus Christ to be the Saviour of his chosen before Adam fell; long\nbefore sin came into the world the everlasting mercy of God foresaw the\nruin of sin, and provided a refuge for every elect soul. What a thought\nit is for me, that, before I hunger, God has prepared the manna; before\nI thirst, God has caused the rock in the wilderness to send forth\ncrystal streams to satisfy the thirst of my soul! See what sovereign\ngrace can do! Before the cattle come to the pasture the grass has grown\nfor them, and before I feel my need of divine mercy that mercy is\nprovided for me. Then I perceive an illustration of free grace, for\n_when the ox comes into the field he brings no money with him_. So I, a\npoor needy sinner, having nothing, come and receive Christ without money\nand without price. The Lord maketh the grass to grow for the cattle, and\nso doth he provide grace for my needy soul, though I have now no money,\nno virtue, no excellence of my own.\n\nAnd why is it, my friends, why is it that God gives the cattle the\ngrass? The reason is, _because they belong to him_. Here is a text to\nprove it. \"The silver and the gold are mine, and the cattle upon a\nthousand hills.\" God provides grass for his own cattle, and grace is\nprovided for God's people. Of every herd of cattle in the world, God\ncould say, \"They are mine.\" Long before the grazier puts his brand on\nthe bullock God has set his creating mark upon it; so, before the stamp\nof Adam's fall was set upon our brow, the stamp of electing love was set\nthere: \"In thy book all my members were written, which in continuance\nwere fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.\"\n\nGod also feeds cattle because _he has entered into a covenant with them\nto do so_. \"What! a covenant with the cattle!\" says somebody. Ay! truly\nso, for when God spake to his servant Noah, in that day when all the\ncattle came out of the ark, we find him saying, \"I establish my covenant\nwith you, and with your seed after you; and with every living creature\nthat is with you, of the fowl, of _the cattle_, and of every beast of\nthe earth with you.\" Thus a covenant was made with the cattle, and that\ncovenant was that seed-time and harvest should not fail; therefore the\nearth brings forth for them, and for them the Lord causeth the grass to\ngrow. Does Jehovah keep his covenant with cattle, and will he not keep\nhis covenant with his own beloved? Ah! it is because his chosen people\nare his covenanted ones in the person of the Lord Jesus, that he\nprovides for them all things that they shall need in time and in\neternity, and satisfies them out of the fulness of his everlasting love.\n\nOnce, again, God feeds the cattle, and then _the cattle praise him_. We\nfind David saying, in the hundred and forty-eighth Psalm, \"Praise the\nLord ... ye beasts and all cattle.\" The Lord feeds his people to the end\nthat their glory may sing praise unto him and not be silent. While other\ncreatures give glory to God, let the redeemed of the Lord especially say\nso, whom he has redeemed out of the hand of the enemy.\n\nNor even yet is our text exhausted. Turning one moment from the cattle,\nI want you to notice the grass. It is said of the grass, \"_He causeth_\nthe grass to grow\": here is a doctrinal lesson, for if grass does not\ngrow without God's causing it to grow, how could grace arise in the\nhuman heart apart from divine operations? Surely grace is a much more\nwonderful product of divine wisdom than the grass can be! And if grass\ndoes not grow without a divine cause, depend upon it grace does not\ndwell in us without a divine implantation. If I have so much as one\nblade of grace growing within me, I must trace it all to God's divine\nwill, and render to him all the glory.\n\nAgain, if God thinks it worth his while to make grass, and take care of\nit, much more will he think it to his honor to cause his grace to grow\nin our hearts. If the great invisible Spirit, whose thoughts are high\nand lofty, condescends to look after that humble thing which grows by\nthe hedge, surely he will condescend to watch over his own nature, which\nhe calls \"the incorruptible seed, which liveth and abideth for ever!\"\nMungo Park, in the deserts of Africa, was much comforted when he took up\na little piece of moss, and saw the wisdom and power of God in that\nlonely piece of verdant loveliness. So, when you see the fields ripe and\nready for the mower, your hearts should leap for joy to see how God has\nproduced the grass, caring for it all through the rigorous cold of\nwinter, and the chill months of spring, until at last he sent the genial\nrain and sunshine, and brought the fields to their best condition. And\nso, my soul, though thou mayest endure many a frost of sorrow and a long\nwinter of trial, yet the Lord will cause thee to grow in grace, and in\nthe knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for\never. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTHE JOY OF HARVEST.\n\n\"They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest.\"--ISAIAH 9:3.\n\n\nTHE other day I kept the feast with a company who shouted \"Harvest\nHome.\" I was glad to see the rich and poor rejoicing together; and when\nthe cheerful meal was ended, I was glad to turn one of the tables into a\npulpit, and in the large barn to preach the gospel of the ever-blessed\nGod to an earnest audience. My heart was merry in harmony with the\noccasion, and I shall now keep in the same key, and talk to you a little\nupon the joy of harvest. Londoners forget that it is harvest time;\nliving in this great desert of dingy bricks we hardly know what a\nwheat-ear is like, except as we see it dry and white in the window of a\ncorn dealer's shop; yet let us all remember that there is such a season\nas harvest, when by God's goodness the fruits of the earth are gathered\nin.\n\nWHAT IS THE JOY OF HARVEST which is here taken as the simile of the joy\nof the saints before God? I am afraid that to the mere selfish order of\nspirits the joy of harvest is simply that of personal gratification at\nthe increase of wealth. Sometimes the farmer only rejoices because _he\nsees the reward of his toils_, and is so much the richer man. I hope\nthat with many there mingles the second cause of joy; namely, gratitude\nto God that an abundant harvest will give bread to the poor, and remove\ncomplaining from our streets. There is a lawful joy in harvest, no\ndoubt, to the man who is enriched by it; for any man who works hard has\na right to rejoice when at last he gains his desire. It would be well if\nmen would always recollect that their last and greatest harvest will be\nto them according to their labor. He that soweth to the flesh will of\nthe flesh reap corruption, and only the man that soweth to the spirit\nwill of the spirit reap life everlasting. Many a young man commences\nlife by sowing what he calls his wild oats, which he had better never\nhave sown, for they will bring him a terrible harvest. He expects that\nfrom these wild oats he will gather a harvest of true pleasure, but it\ncannot be; the truest pleasures of life spring from the good seed of\nrighteousness, and not from the hemlock of sin. As a man who sows\nthistles in his furrows must not expect to reap the golden wheatsheaf,\nso he who follows the ways of vice must not expect happiness. On the\ncontrary, if he sows the wind he will reap the whirlwind. When a sinner\nfeels the pangs of conscience he may well say, \"This is what I sowed.\"\nWhen he shall at last receive the punishment of his evil deeds he will\nblame no one but himself; he sowed tares and he must reap tares. On the\nother hand, the Christian man, though his salvation is not of works, but\nof grace, will have a gracious reward given to him by his Master. Sowing\nin tears, he shall reap in joy. Putting out his talents to interest, he\nshall enter into his Master's joy, and hear him say, \"Well done, good\nand faithful servant.\" The joy of harvest in part consists of the reward\nof labor; may such be our joy in serving the Lord.\n\nThe joy of harvest has another element in it, namely, that of _gratitude\nto God for favors bestowed_. We are singularly dependent on God; far\nmore so than most of us imagine. When the children of Israel were in the\nwilderness they went forth every morning and gathered the manna. Our\nmanna does not come to us every morning, but it comes once a year. It is\nas much a heavenly supply as if it lay like a hoarfrost round about the\ncamp. If we went out into the field and gathered food which dropped from\nthe clouds we should think it a great miracle; and is it not as great a\nmarvel that our bread should come up from the earth as that it should\ncome down from the sky? The same God who bade the heavens drop with\nangels' food bids the dull earth in its due season yield corn for\nmankind. Therefore whenever we find that harvest comes, let us be\ngrateful to God, and let us not suffer the season to pass over without\npsalms of thanksgiving. I believe I shall be correct if I say that there\nis never in the world, as a rule, more than sixteen months' supply of\nfood; that is to say, when the harvest is gathered in, there may be\nsixteen months' supply; but at the time of harvest there is not usually\nenough wheat in the whole world to last the population more than four or\nfive months; so that if the harvest did not come we should be on the\nverge of famine. We live still from hand to mouth. Let us pause and\nbless God, and let the joy of harvest be the joy of gratitude.\n\nTo the Christian it should be great joy, by means of the harvest, _to\nreceive an assurance of God's faithfulness_. The Lord has promised that\nseed-time and harvest, summer and winter, shall never cease; and when\nyou see the loaded wain carrying in the crop you may say to yourself,\n\"God is true to his promise. Despite the dreary winter and the damp\nspring, autumn has come with its golden grain.\" Depend upon it, that as\nthe Lord keeps this promise he will keep all the rest. All his promises\nare yea and amen in Christ Jesus; if he keeps his covenant to the earth,\nmuch more will he keep his covenant with his own people, whom he hath\nloved with an everlasting love. Go, Christian, to the mercy-seat with\nthe promise on your lip and plead it. Be assured it is not a dead\nletter. Let not unbelief cause you to stammer when you mention the\npromise before the throne, but say it boldly--\"Fulfil this word unto thy\nservant on which thou hast caused me to hope.\" Shame upon us that we so\nlittle believe our God. The world is full of proofs of his goodness.\nEvery rising sun, every falling shower, every revolving season certifies\nhis faithfulness. Wherefore do we doubt him? If we never doubt him till\nwe have cause for it we shall never know distrust again. Encouraged by\nthe return of harvest, let us resolve in the strength of the Spirit of\nGod that we will not waver, but will believe in the divine word and\nrejoice in it.\n\nOnce more. To the Christian, in the joy of harvest there will always be\n_the joy of expectation_. As there is a harvest to the husbandman for\nwhich he waiteth patiently, so there is a harvest for all faithful\nwaiters who are looking for the coming and the appearing of our Lord and\nSaviour Jesus Christ. The mature Christian, like the ripe ear of corn,\nhangs down his head with holy humility. When he was but green in the\nthings of God he stood erect and was somewhat boastful, but now that he\nhas become full of the blessing of the Lord he is humbled thereby, and\nbows himself down; he is waiting for the sickle, and he dreads it not,\nfor no common reaper shall come to gather Christ's people--he himself\nshall reap the harvest of the world. The Lord leaves the destroying\nangel to reap the vintage and to cast it into the wine-vat to be trodden\nwith vengeance; but as for the grain which he himself has sown, he will\ngather it himself with his own golden sickle. We are looking for this.\nWe are growing among the tares, and sometimes we are half afraid lest\nthe tares should be stronger than ourselves and choke the wheat; but we\nshall be separated by-and-by, and when the corn is well winnowed and\nstored in the garner, we shall be there. It is this expectation which\neven now makes our hearts throb with joy. We have gone to the grave with\nprecious sheaves that belonged to our Master, and when we were there we\nthought we could almost say, \"Lord, if they sleep they shall do well.\nLet us die with them.\" Our joy of harvest is the hope of being at rest\nwith all the saints, and for ever with the Lord. A view of these shadowy\nharvests upon earth should make us exceedingly glad, because they are\nthe image and foreshadowing of the eternal harvest above.\n\n\nSo much about the joy of harvest; but I hasten onward. WHAT JOYS ARE\nTHOSE WHICH TO THE BELIEVER ARE AS THE JOY OF HARVEST? It is a common\nnotion that Christians are an unhappy people. It is true that we are\ntried, but it is false that we are miserable. With all their trials,\nbelievers have such a compensation in the love of Christ that they are\nstill a blessed generation, and it may be said of them, \"Happy art thou,\nO Israel.\"\n\nOne of the first seasons in which we knew a joy equal to the joy of\nharvest--a season which has continued with us ever since it\ncommenced--was _when we found the Saviour_, and so obtained salvation.\nYou recollect for yourselves, brethren and sisters, the time of the\nploughing of your souls. My heart was fallow, and covered with weeds;\nbut on a certain day the great Husbandman came and began to plough my\nsoul. Ten black horses were his team, and it was a sharp ploughshare\nthat he used, and the ploughers made deep furrows. The ten commandments\nwere those black horses, and the justice of God, like a ploughshare,\ntore my spirit. I was condemned, undone, destroyed, lost, helpless,\nhopeless--I thought hell was before me. Then there came a cross\nploughing, for when I went to hear the gospel it did not comfort me; it\nmade me wish I had a part in it, but I feared that such a boon was out\nof the question. The choicest promises of God frowned at me, and his\nthreatenings thundered at me. I prayed, but found no answer of peace. It\nwas long with me thus. After the ploughing came the sowing. God who\nploughed the heart made it conscious that it needed the gospel, and the\ngospel seed was joyfully received. Do you recollect that auspicious day\nwhen at last you began to have some little hope? It was very\nlittle--like a green blade that peeps up from the soil; you scarce knew\nwhether it was grass or corn, whether it was presumption or true faith.\nIt was a little hope, but it grew very pleasantly. Alas, a frost of\ndoubt came; snow of fear fell; cold winds of despondency blew on you,\nand you said, \"There can be no hope for me.\" But what a glorious day was\nthat when at last the wheat which God had sown ripened, and you could\nsay, \"I have looked unto him and have been lightened; I have laid my\nsins on Jesus, where God laid them of old, and they are taken away, and\nI am saved.\" I remember well that day, and so no doubt do many of you.\nO sirs! no husbandman ever shouted for joy as our heart shouted when a\nprecious Christ was ours, and we could grasp him with full assurance of\nsalvation in him. Many days have passed since then, but the joy of it is\nstill fresh with us. And, blessed be God, it is not the joy of the first\nday only that we look back upon; it is the joy of every day since then,\nmore or less; for our joy no man taketh from us; still we are walking in\nChrist, even as we received him. Even now all our hope on him is stayed,\nall our help from him we bring; and our joy and peace continue with us\nbecause they are based upon an immovable foundation. We rejoice in the\nLord, yea, and we will rejoice.\n\nThe joy of harvest generally shows itself by the farmer giving a feast\nto his friends and neighbors; and, usually, those who find Christ\nexpress their joy by telling their friends and their neighbors how great\nthings the Lord hath done for them. The grace of God is communicative. A\nman cannot be saved, and always hold his tongue about it; as well look\nfor dumb choirs in heaven as for a silent church on earth. If a man has\nbeen thirsty, and has come to the living stream, his first impulse will\nbe to cry, \"Ho! every one that thirsteth!\" Do you feel the joy of\nharvest, the joy that makes you wish that others should share with you?\nIf so, do not repress the impulse to proclaim your happiness. Speak of\nChrist to brothers and sisters, to friends and kinsfolk; and, if the\nlanguage be stammering, the message in itself is so important that the\nwords in which you couch it will be a secondary consideration. Tell it,\ntell it out far and wide--that there is a Saviour, that you have found\nhim, and that his blood can wash away transgression. Tell it every\nwhere; and so the joy of harvest shall spread o'er land and sea, and God\nshall be glorified.\n\nWe have another joy which is like the joy of harvest. We frequently have\nit, too. It is _the joy of answered prayer_. I hope you know what it is\nto pray in faith. Some prayer is not worth the words used in presenting\nit, because there is no faith mixed with it. \"With all thy sacrifices\nthou shalt offer salt,\" and the salt of faith is needful if we would\nhave our sacrifices accepted. Those who are familiar with the mercy-seat\nknow that prayer is a reality, and that the doctrine of divine answers\nto prayer is no fiction. Sometimes God will delay to answer for wise\nreasons; then his children must cry, and cry, and cry again. They are in\nthe condition of the husbandman who must wait for the precious fruits of\nthe earth; and when at last the answer to prayer comes, they are then in\nthe husbandman's position when he receives the harvest. Remember\nHannah's wail and Hannah's word. In the bitterness of her soul she cried\nto God, and when her child was given to her she called it \"Samuel,\"\nmeaning, \"Asked of God;\" for, said she, \"For this child I prayed.\" He\nwas a dear child to her, because he was a child of prayer. Any mercy\nthat comes to you in answer to prayer will be your Samuel mercy, your\ndarling mercy. You will say of it, \"For this mercy I prayed,\" and it\nwill bring the joy of harvest to your spirit. If the Lord desires to\nsurprise his children he has only to answer their prayers; for the most\nof them would be astonished if an answer came to their petitions. I know\nhow they speak about answers to prayer. They say, \"How remarkable! How\nwonderful!\" as if it were anything remarkable that God should be true,\nand that the Most High should keep his promise. Oh for more faith to\nrest upon his word! and we should have more of these harvest joys.\n\nWe have another joy of harvest in ourselves _when we conquer a\ntemptation_. We know what it is to get under a cloud sometimes; sin\nwithin us rises with a darkening force, or an external adversity\nbeclouds us, and we miss the plain path we were accustomed to walk in. A\nchild of God at such times will cry mightily for help; for he is fearful\nof himself and fearful of his surroundings. Some of God's people have\nbeen by the week and month together exposed to the double temptation,\nfrom without and from within, and have cried to God in bitter anguish.\nIt has been a very hard struggle; the sinful action has been painted in\nvery fascinating colors, and the siren voice of temptation has almost\nenchanted them. But when at last they have got through the valley of the\nshadow of death without having slipped with their feet; when, after all,\nthey have not been destroyed by Apollyon, but have come forth again into\nthe daylight, they feel a joy unspeakable, compared with which the joy\nof harvest is mere childish merriment. Those know deep joy who have felt\nbitter sorrow. As the man feels that he is the stronger for the\nconflict, as he feels that he has gathered experience and stronger faith\nfrom having passed through the trial, he lifts up his heart, and\nrejoices, not in himself, but before his God, with the joy of harvest.\nBrethren beloved, you know what that means.\n\nAgain, there is such a thing as the joy of harvest _when we have been\nrendered useful_. The master passion of every Christian is to be useful.\nThere should be a burning zeal within us for the glory of God. When the\nman who desires to be useful has laid his plans and set about his work,\nhe begins to look out for the results; but perhaps it will be weeks, or\nyears, before results will come. The worker is not to be blamed that\nthere are no fruits as yet, but he is to be blamed if he is content to\nbe without fruits. A preacher may preach without conversions, and who\nshall blame him? but if he be happy, who shall excuse him? It is ours to\nbreak our own hearts if we cannot by God's grace break other men's\nhearts, if others will not weep for their sins it should be our constant\nhabit to weep for them. When the heart becomes earnest, warm, zealous,\nGod usually gives a measure of success, some fiftyfold, some a\nhundredfold. When the success comes it is the joy of harvest indeed. I\ncannot help being egotistical enough to mention the joy I felt when\nfirst I heard that a soul had found peace through my youthful ministry.\nI had been preaching in a village some few Sabbaths with an increasing\ncongregation, but I had not heard of a conversion, and I thought,\n\"Perhaps I am not called of God. He does not mean me to preach, for if\nhe did he would give me spiritual children.\" One Sabbath my good deacon\nsaid, \"Don't be discouraged. A poor woman was savingly impressed last\nSabbath.\" How long do you suppose it was before I saw that woman? It was\njust as long as it took me to reach her cottage. I was eager to hear\nfrom her own lips whether it was a work of God's grace or not. I always\nlooked upon her with interest, though only a poor laborer's wife, till\nshe was taken away to heaven, after having lived a holy life. Many since\nthen have I rejoiced over in the Lord, but that first seal to my\nministry was peculiarly dear to me. It gave me a sip of the joy of\nharvest. If somebody had left me a fortune it would not have caused me\none-hundredth part of the delight I had in discovering that a soul had\nbeen led to the Saviour. I am sure Christian people who have not this\njoy have missed one of the choicest delights that a believer can know\nthis side heaven. In fact, when I see souls saved, I do not envy Gabriel\nhis throne nor the angels their harps. It shall be our heaven to be out\nof heaven for a season if we can but bring others to know the Saviour\nand so add fresh jewels to the Redeemer's crown.\n\nI will mention another delight which is as the joy of harvest, and that\nis _fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ_. This is not so much a matter\nfor speech as for experience and delight. If we try to speak of what\ncommunion with Christ is, we fail. Solomon, the wisest of men, when\ninspired to write of the fellowship of the church with her Lord, was\ncompelled to write in allegories and emblems, and though to the\nspiritual mind the Book of Canticles is always delightful, yet to the\ncarnal mind it seems a mere love song. The natural man discerneth not\nthe things that be of God, for they are spiritual, and can only be\nspiritually discerned. But, oh, the bliss of knowing that Christ is\nyours, and of entering into nearness of communion with him. To thrust\nyour hand into his side, and your finger into the print of the nails;\nthese be not everyday joys; but when such near and dear communings come\nto us on our highdays and holydays, they make our souls like the\nchariots of Ammi-nadib, or, if you will, they cause us to tread the\nworld beneath our feet and all that earth calls good or great. Our\ncondition matters nothing to us if Christ be with us--he is our God, our\ncomfort, and our all, and we rejoice before him as with the joy of\nharvest.\n\n\nI have no time to enlarge further; for I want to close with one other\npractical word. Many of us are anxiously desiring a harvest which would\nbring to us an intense delight. Of late, divers persons have\ncommunicated to me in many ways the strong emotion they feel of pity for\nthe souls of men. Others of us have felt a mysterious impulse to pray\nmore than we did, and to be more anxious than ever we were that Christ\nwould save poor perishing sinners. We shall not be satisfied until there\nis a thorough awakening in this land. We did not raise the feeling in\nour own minds, and we do not desire to repress it. We do not believe it\ncan be repressed; but others will feel the same heavenly affection, and\nwill sigh and cry to God day and night until the blessing comes. This is\nthe sowing, this is the ploughing, this is the harrowing--may it go on\nto harvesting. I long to hear my brethren and sisters universally\nsaying, \"We are full of anguish, we are in agony till souls be saved.\"\nThe cry of Rachel, \"Give me children, or I die,\" is the cry of your\nminister this day, and the longing of thousands more besides. As that\ndesire grows in intensity a revival is approaching. We must have\nspiritual children born to Christ, or our hearts will break for the\nlonging that we have for their salvation. Oh for more of these longings,\nyearnings, cravings, travailings! If we plead till the harvest of\nrevival comes we shall partake in the joy of it.\n\nWho will have the most joy? Those who have been the most concerned about\nit. You who do not pray in private, nor come out to prayer-meetings,\nwill not have the joy when the blessing comes, and the church is\nincreased. You had no share in the sowing, therefore you will have\nlittle share in the reaping. You who never speak to others about their\nsouls, who take no share in Sunday-school or mission work, but simply\neat the fat and drink the sweet--you shall have none of the joy of\nharvest, for you do not put your hands to the work of the Lord. And who\nwould wish that idlers should be happy? Rather in our zeal and jealousy\nwe feel inclined to say, \"Curse ye Meroz, curse ye bitterly the\ninhabitants thereof; because they came not up to the help of the Lord,\nto the help of the Lord against the mighty.\" If you come to the help of\nthe Lord by his own divine Spirit, you shall share the joy of harvest.\nPerhaps none will have more of that joy than those who shall have the\nprivilege of seeing their own dear ones brought to God. Some of you have\nchildren who are a trial to you whenever you think of them; let them be\nsuch a trial to you that they drive you to incessant prayer for them,\nand, if the blessing comes, why should it not drop on them? If a revival\ncomes, why should not your daughter yet be converted, and that wild boy\nof yours be brought in, or even your gray-headed father, who has been\nsceptical and unbelieving--why should not the grace of God come to him?\nAnd, oh, what a joy of harvest you will have then? What bliss will\nthrill through your spirit when you see those who are united to you in\nties of blood united to Christ your Lord! Pray much for them with\nearnest faith, and you shall yet have the joy of harvest in your own\nhouse, a shout of harvest home in your own family.\n\nPossibly, my hearer, you have not much to do with such joy, for you are\nyourself unsaved. Yet it is a grand thing for an unconverted person to\nbe under a ministry that God blesses, and with a people that pray for\nconversions. It is a happy thing for you, young man, to have a Christian\nmother. It is a great boon for you, O unconverted woman, that you have a\ngodly sister. These make us hopeful for you. While your relations are\nprayerful, we are hopeful for _you_. May the Lord Jesus be yours yet.\nBut, oh! if you remain unbelieving, however rich a blessing comes to\nothers, it will leave _you_ none the better for it. \"If ye be willing\nand obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land;\" but there are some who\nmay cry in piteous accents, \"The harvest is past, the summer is ended,\nand we are not saved.\" It has been remarked that those who pass through\na season of revival and remain unconverted are more hardened and\nunimpressed than before. I believe it to be so, and I therefore pray the\ndivine Spirit to come with such energy that none of you may escape his\npower. May you be led to pray,\n\n  \"Pass me not, O mighty Spirit!\n     Thou canst make the blind to see;\n   Witnesser of Jesus' merit,\n     Speak the word of power to me,\n                                 Even me.\n\n  \"Have I long in sin been sleeping,\n     Long been slighting, grieving thee?\n   Has the world my heart been keeping?\n     Oh forgive and rescue me,\n                             Even me.\"\n\nOh for earnest, importunate prayer from all believers throughout the\nworld! If our churches could be stirred up to incessant, vehement crying\nto God, so as to give him no rest till he make Zion a praise in the\nearth, we might expect to see God's kingdom come and the power of Satan\nfall. As many of you as love Christ, I charge you by his dear name to be\nmuch in prayer; as many of you as love the Church of God, and desire her\nprosperity, I beseech you keep not back in this time of supplication.\nThe Lord grant that you may be led to plead till the harvest joy is\ngranted. Do you remember one Sabbath my saying, \"The Lord deal so with\nyou as you deal with his work during this next month.\" I feel as if it\nwill be so with many of you--that the Lord will deal so with you as you\nshall deal with his Church. If you scatter little you shall have little,\nif you pray little you shall have little favor; but if you have zeal and\nfaith, and plead much and work much for the Lord, good measure, pressed\ndown and running over, shall the Lord return into your own bosoms. If\nyou water others with drops you shall receive drops in return; but if\nthe Spirit helps you to pour out rivers of living water from your own\nsoul, then floods of heavenly grace shall flow into your spirit. God\nbring in the unconverted, and lead them to a simple trust in Jesus; then\nshall they also know the joy of harvest. We ask it for his name's sake.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nSPIRITUAL GLEANING.\n\n\"Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not.\"--RUTH\n2:15.\n\n\nCOUNTRY friends need no explanation of what is meant by gleaning. I hope\nthe custom will never be banished from the land, but that the poor will\nalways be allowed their little share of the harvest. I am afraid that\nmany who see gleaning every year in the fields of their own parish are\nnot yet wise enough to understand the heavenly art of spiritual\ngleaning. That is the subject which I have chosen on this occasion, and\nmy text is taken from the charming story of Ruth, which is known to\nevery one of you. I shall use the story as setting forth our own case,\nin a homely but instructive way. In the first place, we shall observe\nthat there is _a great Husbandman_; it was Boaz in Ruth's case, it is\nour heavenly Father who is the Husbandman in our case. Secondly, we\nshall notice _a humble gleaner_; the gleaner was Ruth in this instance,\nbut she may be looked upon as the representative of every believer. And,\nin the third place, here is a _gracious permission given_ to Ruth: \"Let\nher glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not,\" and the same\npermission is spiritually given to us.\n\n\nI. In the first place, the God of the whole earth is A GREAT HUSBANDMAN.\nThis is true in _natural_ things. As a matter of fact all farm\noperations are carried on by his power and prudence. Man may plough the\nsoil, and sow the seed; but as Jesus said, \"My Father is the\nhusbandman.\" He appoints the clouds and allots the sunshine; he directs\nthe winds and distributes the dew and the rain; he also gives the frost\nand the heat, and so by various processes of nature he brings forth food\nfor man and beast. All the farming, however, which God does, is for the\nbenefit of others, and never for himself. He has no need of any of our\nworks of husbandry. If he were hungry, he would not tell us. \"The cattle\non a thousand hills,\" says he, \"are mine.\" The purest kindness and\nbenevolence are those which dwell in the heart of God. Though all things\nare God's, his works in creation and in providence are not for himself,\nbut for his creatures. This should greatly encourage us in trusting to\nhim.\n\nIn _spiritual_ matters God is a great husbandman; and there, too, all\nhis works are done for his children, that they may be fed upon the\nfinest of the wheat. Permit me to speak of the wide gospel fields which\nour heavenly Father farms for the good of his children. There is a great\nvariety of these fields, and they are all fruitful; for \"the fountain of\nJacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop\ndown dew.\" Deut. 33:28. Every field which our heavenly Father tills\nyields a plentiful harvest, for there are no failures or famines with\nhim.\n\n1. One part of his farm is called _Doctrine field_. What full sheaves of\nfinest wheat are to be found there! He who is permitted to glean in it\nwill gather bread enough and to spare, for the land brings forth by\nhandfuls. Look at that goodly sheaf of election; full, indeed, of heavy\nears of corn, such as Pharaoh saw in his first dream--ears full and\nstrong. There is the great sheaf of final perseverance, where each ear\nis a promise that the work which God has begun he will assuredly\ncomplete. If we have not faith enough to partake of either of these\nsheaves, we may glean around the choice sheaves of redemption by the\nblood of Christ. Many a poor soul who could not feed on electing love,\nnor realize his perseverance in Christ, can yet feed on the atonement\nand rejoice in the sublime doctrine of substitution. Many and rich are\nthe sheaves which stand thick together in Doctrine field; these, when\nthreshed by meditation and ground in the mill of thought, furnish royal\nfood for the Lord's family.\n\nI wonder why it is that some of our Master's stewards are so prone to\nlock the gate of this field, as if they thought it dangerous ground. For\nmy part, I wish my people not only to glean here, but to carry home the\nsheaves by the wagon-load, for they cannot be too well fed when truth is\nthe food. Are my fellow-laborers afraid that Jeshurun will wax fat and\nkick, if he has too much food? I fear there is more likelihood of his\ndying of starvation if the bread of sound doctrine is withheld. If we\nhave a love to the precepts and warnings of the word, we need not be\nafraid of the doctrines; on the contrary, we should search them out and\nfeed upon them with joy. The doctrines of distinguishing grace are to be\nset forth in due proportions to the rest of the word, and those are poor\npulpits from which these grand truths are excluded. We must not keep the\nLord's people out of this field. I say, swing the gate open, and come\nin, all of you who are children of God! I am sure that in my Master's\nfield nothing grows which will harm you. Gospel doctrine is always safe\ndoctrine. You may feast upon it till you are full, and no harm will come\nof it. Be afraid of no revealed truth. Be afraid of spiritual ignorance,\nbut not of holy knowledge. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of your\nLord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Everything taught in the word of God is\nmeant to be the subject of a Christian's study, therefore neglect\nnothing. Visit the doctrine field daily, and glean in it with the utmost\ndiligence.\n\n2. The great Husbandman has another field called _Promise field_; of\nthat I shall not need to speak, for I hope you often enter it and glean\nfrom it. Just let us take an ear or two out of one of the sheaves, and\nshow them to you that you may be induced to stay there the live-long\nday, and carry home a rich load at night. Here is an ear: \"The mountains\nshall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart\nfrom thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed.\" Here is\nanother: \"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and\nthrough the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest\nthrough the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame\nkindle upon thee.\" Here is another; it has a short stalk, but a heavy\near: \"My strength is sufficient for thee.\" Another is long in the straw,\nbut very rich in corn: \"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in\nGod, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it\nwere not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you; and\nif I go and prepare a place for you I will come again, and receive you\nunto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.\" What a word is\nthat!--\"I will come again.\" Yes, beloved, we can say of the Promise\nfield what cannot be said of a single acre in all England; namely, that\nit is so rich a field that it could not be richer, and that it has so\nmany ears of corn in it that you could not insert another. As the poet\nsings:\n\n  \"What more can he say, than to you he hath said,--\n   You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?\"\n\nGlean in that field, O ye poor and needy ones, and never think that you\nare intruding. The whole field is your own, every ear of it; you may\ndraw out from the sheaves themselves, and the more you take the more you\nmay.\n\n3. Then there is _Ordinance field_; a great deal of good wheat grows in\nthis field. The field of Baptism has been exceedingly fruitful to some\nof us, for it has set forth to us our death, burial, and resurrection in\nChrist, and thus we have been cheered and instructed. It has been good\nfor us to declare ourselves on the Lord's side, and we have found that\nin keeping our Lord's commandments there is great reward. But I will not\ndetain you long in this field, for some of our friends think it has a\ndamp soil: I wish them more light and more grace. However, we will pass\non to the field of the Supper, where grows the very best of our Lord's\ncorn. What rich things have we fed upon in this choice spot! Have we not\nthere tasted the sweetest and most sustaining of all spiritual food? In\nall the estate no field is to be found to rival this centre and crown of\nall the domain; this is the King's Acre. Gospel gleaner, abide in that\nfield; glean in it on the first day of every week, and expect to see\nyour Lord there; for it is written, \"He was known of them in the\nbreaking of bread.\"\n\n4. The heavenly Husbandman has one field upon a hill, which equals the\nbest of the others, even if it does not excel them. You cannot really\nand truly go into any of the other fields unless you pass into this; for\nthe road to the other fields lies through this hill farm; it is called\n_Fellowship and Communion with Christ_. This is the field for the Lord's\nchoicest ones to glean in. Some of you have only run through it, you\nhave not stopped long enough in it; but he who knows how to stay here,\nyea, to live here, shall spend his hours most profitably and pleasantly.\nIt is only in proportion as we hold fellowship with Christ, and\ncommunion with him, that either ordinances, or doctrines, or promises\ncan profit us. All other things are dry and barren unless we are\nenjoying the love of Christ, unless we bear his likeness, unless we\ndwell continually with him, and rejoice in his love. I am sorry to say\nthat few Christians think much of this field; it is enough for them to\nbe sound in doctrine, and tolerably correct in practice; they care far\nless than they should about intimate inter course with Christ Jesus,\ntheir Lord, by the Holy Ghost. I am sure that if we gleaned in this\nfield we should not have half so many naughty tempers nor a tenth as\nmuch pride, nor a hundredth part so much sloth. This is a field hedged\nand sheltered, and in it you will find better food than that which\nangels feed upon; yea, you will find Jesus himself as the bread which\ncame down from heaven. Blessed, blessed field, may we visit it every\nday. The Master leaves the gate wide open for every believer; let us\nenter in and gather the golden ears till we can carry no more. Thus we\nhave seen the great Husbandman in his fields; let us rejoice that we\nhave such a great Husbandman near, and such fields to glean in.\n\n\nII. And now, in the second place, we have A HUMBLE GLEANER. Ruth was a\ngleaner, and may serve as an illustration of what every believer should\nbe in the fields of God.\n\n1. The believer is a favored gleaner, for he _may take home a whole\nsheaf if he likes_; he may bear away all that he can possibly carry, for\nall things are freely given him of the Lord. I use the figure of a\ngleaner because I believe that few Christians ever go much beyond it,\nand yet they are free to do so if they are able. Some may say, Why does\nnot the believer reap all the field, and take all the corn home with\nhim? I answer that he is welcome to do so if he can; for no good thing\nwill the Lord withhold from them that walk uprightly. If your faith is\nlike a great wagon, and you can carry the whole field of corn, you have\nfull permission to take it. Alas, our faith is so little that we rather\nglean than reap; we are straitened in ourselves, not in our God. May you\nall outgrow the metaphor, and come home, bringing your sheaves with you.\n\n2. Again, we may remark, that the gleaner in her business _has to endure\nmuch toil and fatigue_. She rises early in the morning, and she trudges\noff to a field; if that be closed, she hastens to another; and if that\nbe shut up, or gleaned already, she hurries farther still; and all day\nlong, while the sun is shining upon her, she seldom sits down to refresh\nherself, but still she goes on, stoop, stoop, stoop, gathering the ears\none by one. She returns not to her home till nightfall; for she desires,\nif the field is good, to do much business that day, and she will not go\nhome until she is loaded down. Beloved, so let each one of us do when we\nseek spiritual food. Let us not be afraid of a little fatigue in the\nMaster's fields; if the gleaning is good, we must not soon weary in\ngathering the precious spoil, for the gains will richly reward our\npains. I know a friend who walks five miles every Sunday to hear the\ngospel, and has the same distance to return. Another thinks little of a\nten miles' journey; and these are wise, for to hear the pure word of God\nno labor is extravagant. To stand in the aisle till ready to drop,\nlistening all the while with strained attention, is a toil which meets a\nfull reward if the gospel be heard and the Spirit of God bless it to the\nsoul. A gleaner does not expect that the ears will come to her of\nthemselves; she knows that gleaning is hard work. We must not expect to\nfind the best field next to our own house, we may have to journey to the\nfar end of the parish, but what of that? Gleaners must not be choosers,\nand where the Lord sends the gospel, there he calls us to be present.\n\n3. We remark, next, that _every ear the gleaner gets she has to stoop\nfor_. Why is it that proud people seldom profit under the word? Why is\nit that certain \"intellectual\" folk cannot get any good out of our\nsoundest ministers? Why, because they must needs have the corn lifted up\nfor them; and if the wheat is held so high over their heads that they\ncan hardly see it, they are pleased, and cry, \"Here is something\nwonderful.\" They admire the extraordinary ability of the man who can\nhold up the truth so high that nobody can reach it; but truly that is a\nsorry feat. The preacher's business is to place truth within the reach\nof all, children as well as adults; he is to let fall handfuls on\npurpose for poor gleaners, and these will never mind stooping to collect\nthe ears. If we preach to the educated people only, the wise ones can\nunderstand, but the illiterate cannot; but when we preach in all\nsimplicity to the poor, other classes can understand it if they like,\nand if they do not like, they had better go somewhere else. Those who\ncannot stoop to pick up plain truth had better give up gleaning. For my\npart, I would be taught by a child if I could thereby know and\nunderstand the gospel better: the gleaning in our Lord's field is so\nrich that it is worth the hardest labor to be able to carry home a\nportion of it. Hungry souls know this, and are not to be hindered in\nseeking their heavenly food. We will go down on our knees in prayer, and\nstoop by self-humiliation, and confession of ignorance, and so gather\nwith the hand of faith the daily bread of our hungering souls.\n\n4. Note, in the next place, that what a gleaner gets _she wins ear by\near_; occasionally she picks up a handful at once, but as a rule it is\nstraw by straw. In the case of Ruth, handfuls were let fall on purpose\nfor her; but she was highly favored. The gleaner stoops, and gets one\near, and then she stoops again for another. Now, beloved, where there\nare handfuls to be got at once, there is the place to go and glean; but\nif you cannot meet with such abundance, be glad to gather ear by ear. I\nhave heard of certain persons who have been in the habit of hearing a\nfavorite minister, and when they go to another place, they say, \"I\ncannot hear anybody after my own minister; I shall stay at home and read\na sermon.\" Please remember the passage, \"Not forsaking the assembling of\nyourselves together, as the manner of some is.\" Let me also entreat you\nnot to be so foolishly partial as to deprive your soul of its food. If\nyou cannot get a handful at one stoop, do not refuse to gather an ear at\na time. If you are not content to learn here a little and there a\nlittle, you will soon be half starved, and then you will be glad to get\nback again to the despised minister and pick up what his field will\nyield you. That is a sorry ministry which yields nothing. Go and glean\nwhere the Lord has opened the gate for you. Why the text alone is worth\nthe journey; do not miss it.\n\n5. Note, next, that _what the gleaner picks up she keeps in her hand_;\nshe does not drop the corn as fast as she gathers it. There is a good\nthought at the beginning of the sermon, but the hearers are so eager to\nhear another, that the first one slips away. Toward the end of the\nsermon a large handful falls in their way, and they forget all that went\nbefore in their eagerness to retain this last and richest portion. The\nsermon is over, and, alas, it is nearly all gone from the memory, for\nmany are about as wise as a gleaner would be if she should pick up one\near, and drop it; pick up another, and drop it, and so on all day. The\nnet result of such a day's work in a stubble is a bad backache; and I\nfear that all our hearers will get by their hearing will be a headache.\nBe attentive, but be retentive too. Gather the grain and tie it up in\nbundles for carrying away with you, and mind you do not lose it on the\nroad home. Many a person when he has got a fair hold of the sermon,\nloses it on the way to his house by idle talk with vain companions. I\nhave heard of a Christian man who was seen hurrying home one Sunday with\nall his might. A friend asked him why he was in such haste. \"Oh!\" said\nhe, \"two or three Sundays ago, our minister gave us a most blessed\ndiscourse, and I greatly enjoyed it; but when I got outside, there were\ntwo deacons discussing, and one pulled the sermon one way, and the\nother the other, till they pulled it all to pieces, and I lost all the\nsavor of it.\" Those must have been very bad deacons; let us not imitate\nthem; and if we know of any who are of their school, let us walk home\nalone in dogged silence sooner than lose all our gleanings by their\ncontroversies. After a good sermon go home with your ears and your mouth\nshut. Act like the miser, who not only gets all he can, but keeps all he\ncan. Do not lose by trifling talk that which may make you rich to all\neternity.\n\n6. Then, again, the gleaner _takes the wheat home and threshes it_. It\nis a wise thing to thresh a sermon, whoever may have been the preacher,\nfor it is certain that there is a portion of straw and chaff about it.\nMany thresh the preacher by finding needless fault; but that is not half\nso good as threshing the sermon to get out of it the pure truth. Take a\nsermon, beloved, when you get one which is worth having, and lay it down\non the floor of meditation, and beat it out with the flail of prayer,\nand you will get bread-corn from it. This threshing by prayer and\nmeditation must never be neglected. If a gleaner should stow away her\ncorn in her room, and leave it there, the mice would get at it; but she\nwould have no food from it if she did not thresh out the grain. Some get\na sermon, and carry it home, and allow Satan and sin, and the world, to\neat it all up, and it becomes unfruitful and worthless to them. But he\nwho knows how to flail a sermon well, so as to clear out all the wheat\nfrom the straw, he is it that makes a good hearer and feeds his soul on\nwhat he hears.\n\n7. And then, in the last place, the good woman, after threshing the\ncorn, no doubt _winnowed it_. Ruth did all this in the field; but you\ncan scarcely do so. You must do some of the work at home. And observe,\nshe did not take the chaff home; she left that behind her in the field.\nIt is a prudent thing to winnow all the discourses you hear so as to\nseparate the precious from the vile; but pray do not fall into the silly\nhabit of taking home all the chaff, and leaving the corn behind. I think\nI hear you say, \"I shall recollect that queer expression; I shall make\nan anecdote out of that odd remark.\" Listen, then, for I have a word for\nyou--if you hear a man retail nothing about a minister except his\noddities, just stop him, and say, \"We have all our faults, and perhaps\nthose who are most ready to speak of those of others are not quite\nperfect themselves: cannot you tell us what the preacher said that was\nworth hearing?\" In many cases the virtual answer will be, \"Oh, I don't\nrecollect that.\" They have sifted the corn, thrown away the good grain,\nand brought home the chaff. Ought they not to be put in an asylum?\nFollow the opposite rule; drop the straw, and retain the good corn.\nSeparate between the precious and the vile, and let the worthless\nmaterial go where it may; you have no use for it, and the sooner you are\nrid of it the better. Judge with care; reject false teaching with\ndecision, and retain true doctrine with earnestness, so shall you\npractise the enriching art of heavenly gleaning. May the Lord teach us\nwisdom, so that we may become \"rich to all the intents of bliss;\" so\nshall our mouth be satisfied with good things, and our youth shall be\nrenewed like the eagle's.\n\n\nIII. And now, in the last place, here is A GRACIOUS PERMISSION GIVEN:\n\"Let her glean among the sheaves, and reproach her not.\" Ruth had no\nright to go among the sheaves till Boaz gave her permission by saying,\n\"Let her do it.\" For her to be allowed to go among the sheaves, in that\npart of the field where the wheat was newly cut, and none of it carted,\nwas a great favor: but Boaz whispered that handfuls were to be dropped\non purpose for her, and that was a greater favor still. Boaz had a\nsecret love for the maiden, and even so, beloved, it is because of our\nLord's eternal love to us that he allows us to enter his best fields and\nglean among the sheaves. His grace permits us to lay hold upon doctrinal\nblessings, promise blessings, and experience blessings: the Lord has a\nfavor toward us, and hence these singular kindnesses. We have no right\nto any heavenly blessings of ourselves; our portion is due to free and\nsovereign grace.\n\nI tell you the reasons that moved Boaz's heart to let Ruth go among the\nsheaves. The master motive was _because he loved her_. He would have her\ngo there, because he had conceived an affection for her, which he\nafterward displayed in grander ways. So the Lord lets his people come\nand glean among the sheaves, because he loves them. Didst thou have a\nsoul-enriching season among the sheaves the other Sabbath? Didst thou\ncarry home thy sack, filled like those of Joseph's brothers, when they\nreturned from Egypt? Didst thou have an abundance? Wast thou satisfied?\nMark; that was thy Master's goodness. It was because he loved thee.\nLook, I beseech thee, on all thy spiritual enjoyments as proof of his\neternal love. Look on all heavenly blessings as being tokens of heavenly\ngrace. It will make thy corn grind all the better, and eat all the\nsweeter, if thou wilt reflect that eternal love gave it thee. Thy sweet\nseasons, thy high enjoyments, thy unspeakable ravishments of spirit are\nall proofs of divine affection, therefore be doubly glad of them.\n\nThere was another reason why Boaz allows Ruth to glean among the\nsheaves; it was because he was her _relative_. This is why our Lord\ngives us choice favors at times, and takes us into his banqueting-house\nin so gracious a manner. He is our next of kin, bone of our bone, and\nflesh of our flesh. Our Redeemer, our kinsman, is the Lord Jesus, and he\nwill never be strange to his own flesh. It is a high and charming\nmystery that our Lord Jesus is the Husband of his church; and sure he\nmay well let his spouse glean among the sheaves; for all that he\npossesses is hers already. Her interests and his interests are one, and\nso he may well say, \"Beloved, take all thou pleasest; I am none the\npoorer because thou dost partake of my fulness, for thou art mine. Thou\nart my partner, and my choice, and all that I have is thine.\" What,\nthen, shall I say to you who are my Lord's beloved? How shall I speak\nwith a tenderness and generosity equal to his desires, for he would have\nme speak right lovingly in his name. Enrich yourselves out of that which\nis your Lord's. Go a spiritual gleaning as often as ever you can. Never\nlose an opportunity of picking up a golden blessing. Glean at the\nmercy-seat; glean in private meditation; glean in reading pious books;\nglean in associating with godly men; glean everywhere; and if you can\nget only a little handful it will be better than none. You who are so\nmuch in business, and so much penned up by cares; if you can only spend\nfive minutes in the Lord's field gleaning a little, be sure to do so. If\nyou cannot bear away a sheaf, carry an ear; and if you cannot find an\near, pick up even a grain of wheat. Take care to get a little, if you\ncannot get much: but gather as much as ever you can.\n\nJust one other remark. O child of God, never be afraid to glean. Have\nfaith in God, and take the promises home to yourself. Jesus will rejoice\nto see you making free with his good things. His voice is \"Eat\nabundantly; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.\" Therefore, if you\nfind a rich promise, live upon it. Draw the honey out of the comb of\nScripture, and live on its sweetness. If you meet with a most\nextraordinary sheaf, carry it away rejoicing. You cannot believe too\nmuch concerning your Lord; let not Satan cheat you into contentment with\na meagre portion of grace when all the granaries of heaven are open to\nyou. Glean on with humble industry and hopeful confidence, and know that\nhe who owns both fields and sheaves is looking upon you with eyes of\nlove, and will one day espouse you to himself in glory everlasting.\nHappy gleaner who finds eternal love and eternal life in the fields in\nwhich he gleans!\n\n\n\n\nMEAL-TIME IN THE CORNFIELDS.\n\n\"And Boaz said unto her, At meal-time come thou hither, and eat of the\nbread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the\nreapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was\nsufficed, and left.\"--RUTH 2:14.\n\n\nWE are going to the cornfields, not so much to glean, as to rest with\nthe reapers and gleaners, when under some wide-spreading oak they sit\ndown to take refreshment. We hope some timid gleaner will accept our\ninvitation to come and eat with us, and will have confidence enough to\ndip _her_ morsel in the vinegar. May all of us have courage to feast to\nthe full on our own account, and kindness enough to carry home a portion\nto our needy friends at home.\n\n\nI. Our first point of remark is this--THAT GOD'S REAPERS HAVE THEIR\nMEAL-TIMES.\n\nThose who work for God will find him a good master. He cares for oxen,\nand he has commanded Israel, \"Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he\ntreadeth out the corn.\" Much more doth he care for his servants who\nserve him. \"He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be\nmindful of his covenant.\" The reapers in Jesus' fields shall not only\nreceive a blessed reward at the last, but they shall have plenteous\ncomforts by the way. He is pleased to pay his servants twice; first in\nthe labor itself, and a second time in the labor's sweet results. He\ngives them such joy and consolation in the service of their Master that\nit is a sweet employ, and they cry, \"We delight to do thy will, O Lord.\"\nHeaven is made up of serving God day and night, and a foretaste of\nheaven is enjoyed in serving God on earth with earnest perseverance.\n\nGod has ordained certain meal-times for his reapers; and he has\nappointed that one of these shall be _when they come together to listen\nto the Word preached_. If God be with ministers they act as the\ndisciples did of old, for they received the loaves and the fishes from\nthe Lord Jesus, and then they handed them to the people. _We_, of\nourselves, cannot feed one soul, much less thousands; but when the Lord\nis with us we can keep as good a table as Solomon himself, with all his\nfine flour, and fat oxen, and roebucks, and fallow-deer. When the Lord\nblesses the provisions of his House, no matter how many thousands there\nmay be, all his poor shall be filled with bread. I hope, beloved, you\nknow what it is to sit under the shadow of the Word with great delight,\nand find the fruit thereof sweet unto your taste. Where the doctrines of\ngrace are boldly and plainly delivered to you in connection with the\nother truths of revelation; where Jesus Christ upon his cross is always\nlifted up; where the work of the Spirit is not forgotten; where the\nglorious purpose of the Father is never despised, there is sure to be\nrich provision for the children of God.\n\nOften, too, our gracious Lord appoints us meal-times _in our private\nreadings and meditations_. Here it is that his \"paths drop fatness.\"\nNothing can be more fattening to the soul of the believer than feeding\nupon the Word, and digesting it by frequent meditation. No wonder that\nmen grow so slowly when they meditate so little. Cattle must chew the\ncud; it is not that which they crop with their teeth, but that which is\nmasticated, and digested by rumination, that nourishes them. We must\ntake the truth, and turn it over and over again in the inward parts of\nour spirit, and so shall we extract suitable nourishment therefrom. My\nbrethren, is not meditation the land of Goshen to you? If men once said,\n\"There is corn in Egypt,\" may they not always say that the finest of the\nwheat is to be found in secret prayer? Private devotion is a land which\nfloweth with milk and honey; a paradise yielding all manner of fruits; a\nbanqueting house of choice wines. Ahasuerus might make a great feast,\nbut all his hundred and twenty provinces could not furnish such dainties\nas meditation offers to the spiritual mind. Where can we feed and lie\ndown in green pastures in so sweet a sense as we do in our musings on\nthe Word? Meditation distils the quintessence of joy from the\nScriptures, and gladdens our mouth with a sweetness which excels the\nvirgin honey. Your retired periods and occasions of prayer should be to\nyou refreshing seasons, in which, like the reapers at noonday, you sit\nwith the Master and enjoy his generous provisions. The Shepherd of\nSalisbury Plain was wont to say that when he was lonely, and his wallet\nwas empty, his Bible was to him meat and drink, and company too; he is\nnot the only man who has found a fulness in the Word when all else has\nbeen empty. During the battle of Waterloo a godly soldier, mortally\nwounded, was carried by his comrade into the rear, and being placed with\nhis back propped up against a tree, he besought his friend to open his\nknapsack and take out the Bible which he had carried in it. \"Read to\nme,\" he said, \"one verse before I close my eyes in death.\" His comrade\nread him that verse: \"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:\nnot as the world giveth, give I unto you;\" and there, fresh from the\nwhistling of the bullets, and the roll of the drum, and the tempest of\nhuman conflict, that believing spirit enjoyed such holy calm that ere he\nfell asleep in the arms of Jesus he said, \"Yes, I have a peace with God\nwhich passeth all understanding, which keeps my heart and mind through\nJesus Christ.\" Saints most surely enjoy delightful meal-times when they\nare alone in meditation.\n\nLet us not forget that there is one specially ordained meal-time which\nought to occur at least once in the week--I mean _the Supper of the\nLord_. There you have literally, as well as spiritually, a meal. The\ntable is richly spread, it has upon it both bread and wine; and looking\nat what these symbolize, we have before us a table richer than that\nwhich kings could furnish. There we have the flesh and the blood of our\nLord Jesus Christ, whereof if a man eat he shall never hunger and never\nthirst, for that bread shall be unto him everlasting life. Oh! the sweet\nseasons we have known at the Lord's Supper. If some of you knew the\nenjoyment of feeding upon Christ in that ordinance you would chide\nyourselves for not having united with the Church in fellowship. In\nkeeping the Master's commandments there is \"great reward,\" and\nconsequently in neglecting them there is great loss of reward. Christ is\nnot so tied to the sacramental table as to be always found of those who\npartake thereat, but still it is \"in the way\" that we may expect the\nLord to meet with us. \"If ye love me, keep my commandments,\" is a\nsentence of touching power. Sitting at this table, our soul has mounted\nup from the emblem to the reality; we have eaten bread in the kingdom of\nGod, and have leaned our head upon Jesus' bosom. \"He brought me to the\nbanqueting-house, and his banner over me was love.\"\n\nBesides these regular meal-times, there are others which God gives us,\n_at seasons when, perhaps, we little expect them_. You have been walking\nthe street, and suddenly you have felt a holy flowing out of your soul\ntoward God; or in the middle of business your heart has been melted with\nlove and made to dance for joy, even as the brooks, which have been\nbound with winter's ice, leap to feel the touch of spring. You have been\ngroaning, dull, and earth-bound; but the sweet love of Jesus has\nenwrapped your heart when you scarce thought of it, and your spirit, all\nfree, and all on fire, has rejoiced before the Lord with timbrel and\ndance, like Miriam of old. I have had times occasionally in preaching\nwhen I would fain have kept on far beyond the appointed hour, for my\noverflowing soul has been like a vessel wanting vent. Seasons, too, we\nhave had on our sick beds, when we would have been content to be sick\nalways if we could have had our bed so well made by tender love, and our\nhead so softly pillowed on condescending grace.\n\nOur blessed Redeemer comes to us in the morning, and wakes us up by\ndropping sweet thoughts upon our souls; we know not how they came, but\nit is as if, when the dew was visiting the flowers, a few drops had\ntaken pity upon us. In the cool eventide, too, as we have gone to our\nbed, our meditation of him has been sweet; and, in the night watches,\nwhen we tossed to and fro, and could not sleep, he has been pleased to\nbecome our song in the night.\n\nGod's reapers find it hard work to reap; but they gain a blessed solace\nwhen in one way or another they sit down and eat of their Master's rich\nprovisions; then, with renewed strength, they rise with sharpened\nsickle, to reap again in the noontide heat.\n\nLet me observe that, while these meal-times come we know not exactly\nwhen, there are _certain seasons when we may expect them_. The Eastern\nreapers generally sit down under the shelter of a tree, or a booth, to\ntake refreshment during the heat of the day. And certain I am that when\ntrouble, affliction, persecution, and bereavement become the most\npainful to us, it is then that the Lord hands out to us the sweetest\ncomforts. We must work till the hot sun forces the sweat from our faces,\nand then we may look for repose; we must bear the burden and heat of the\nday before we can expect to be invited to those choice meals which the\nLord prepares for true laborers. When thy day of trouble is hottest,\nthen the love of Jesus shall be sweetest.\n\nAgain, these meal-times frequently occur _before_ a trial. Elijah must\nbe entertained beneath a juniper tree, for he is to go a forty days'\njourney in the strength of that meat. You may suspect some danger nigh\nwhen your delights are overflowing. If you see a ship taking in great\nquantities of provision, it is probably bound for a distant port, and\nwhen God gives you extraordinary seasons of communion with Jesus, you\nmay look for long leagues of tempestuous sea. Sweet cordials prepare for\nstern conflicts.\n\nTimes of refreshing also occur _after_ trouble or arduous service.\nChrist was tempted of the devil, and _afterward_ angels came and\nministered unto him. Jacob wrestled with God, and afterward, at\nMahanaim, hosts of angels met him. Abraham fought with the kings, and\nreturned from their slaughter, and then it was that Melchisedec\nrefreshed him with bread and wine. After conflict, content; after\nbattle, banquet. When thou hast waited on thy Lord, then thou shalt sit\ndown, and thy Master will gird himself and wait upon thee.\n\nLet worldlings say what they will about the hardness of religion, we do\nnot find it so. We own that reaping for Christ has its difficulties and\ntroubles; but still the bread which we eat is of heavenly sweetness, and\nthe wine which we drink is crushed from celestial clusters:\n\n  \"I would not change my bless'd estate\n   For all the world calls good or great;\n   And while my faith can keep her hold,\n   I envy not the sinner's gold.\"\n\n\nII. Follow me while we turn to a second point. TO THESE MEALS THE\nGLEANER IS AFFECTIONATELY INVITED. That is to say, the poor, trembling\nstranger who has not strength enough to reap, who has no right to be in\nthe field except the right of charity the poor, trembling sinner,\nconscious of his own demerit, and feeling but little hope and little\njoy, is invited to the feast of love.\n\nIn the text _the gleaner is invited to come_. \"At meal-time _come_ thou\nhither.\" We trust none of you will be kept away from the place of holy\nfeasting by any shame on account of your dress, or your personal\ncharacter, or your poverty; nay, nor even on account of your physical\ninfirmities. \"At meal-time come thou hither.\" I knew a deaf woman who\ncould never hear a sound, and yet she was always in the House of God,\nand when asked why, her reply was that a friend found her the text, and\nthen God was pleased to give her many a sweet thought upon it while she\nsat with his people; besides, she felt that as a believer she ought to\nhonor God by her _presence_ in his courts, and by confessing her union\nwith his people; and, better still, she always liked to be in the best\nof company, and as the presence of God was there, and the holy angels,\nand the saints of the Most High, whether she could hear or no, she would\ngo. If _such_ persons find pleasure in coming, we who _can_ hear should\nnever stay away. Though we feel our unworthiness, we ought to be\ndesirous to be laid in the House of God, as the sick were at the pool of\nBethesda, hoping that the waters may be stirred, and that we may step in\nand be healed. Trembling soul, never let the temptations of the devil\nkeep thee from the assembly of worshippers; \"at meal-time come thou\nhither.\"\n\nMoreover, _she was bidden not only to come but to eat_. Whatever there\nis sweet and comfortable in the Word of God, ye that are of a broken and\ncontrite spirit are invited to partake of it. \"Jesus Christ came into\nthe world to save _sinners_\"--sinners such as you are. \"In due time\nChrist died for the _ungodly_\"--such ungodly ones as you feel yourselves\nto be. You desire to be Christ's. You _may_ be Christ's. You are saying\nin your heart, \"O that I could eat the children's bread!\" You _may_ eat\nit. You say, \"I have no right.\" But the Lord gives you the invitation.\nCome without any other right than the right of his invitation.\n\n   \"Let not conscience make you linger,\n      Nor of fitness fondly dream.\"\n\nBut since he bids you \"come,\" take him at his word; and if there be a\npromise, believe it; if there be an encouraging word, accept it, and let\nthe sweetness of it be yours.\n\nNote further, that she was not only invited to eat the bread, but to\n_dip her morsel in the vinegar_. We must not look upon this as being\nsome sour stuff. No doubt there are crabbed souls in the church, who\nalways dip their morsel in the sourest imaginable vinegar, and with a\ngrim liberality invite others to share their misery with them; but the\nvinegar in my text is altogether another thing. This was either a\ncompound of various juices expressed from fruits, or else it was that\nweak kind of wine mingled with water which is still commonly used in the\nharvest-fields of Italy and the warmer parts of the world--a drink not\nexceedingly strong, but good enough to impart a relish to the food. It\nwas, to use the only word which will give the meaning, _a sauce_, which\nthe Orientals used with their bread. As we use butter, or as they on\nother occasions used oil, so in the harvest-field, believing it to have\ncooling properties, they used what is here called \"vinegar.\" Beloved,\nthe Lord's reapers have sauce with their bread; they have not merely\ndoctrines, but the holy unction which is the essence of doctrines; they\nhave not merely truths, but a hallowed delight accompanies the truths.\nTake, for instance, the doctrine of election, which is like the bread;\nthere is a sauce to dip it in. When I can say, \"He loved _me_ before the\nfoundations of the world,\" the personal enjoyment of my interest in the\ntruth becomes a sauce into which I dip my morsel. And you, poor gleaner,\nare invited to dip your morsel in it too. I used to hear people sing\nthat hymn of Toplady's, which begins--\n\n  \"A debtor to mercy alone,\n   Of covenant mercy I sing;\n   Nor fear, with thy righteousness on,\n   My person and offering to bring.\"\n\nThe hymn rises to its climax in the lines--\n\n  \"Yes, I to the end shall endure,\n   As sure as the earnest is given;\n   More happy, but not more secure,\n   The glorified spirits in heaven.\"\n\nI used to think I should never be able to sing that hymn. It was the\nsauce, you know. I might manage to eat some of the plain bread, but I\ncould not dip it in that sauce. It was too high doctrine, too sweet, too\nconsoling. But I thank God I have since ventured to dip my morsel in it,\nand now I hardly like my bread without it.\n\nI would have every trembling sinner partake of the _comfortable_ parts\nof God's Word, even those which cavillers call \"HIGH DOCTRINE.\" Let him\nbelieve the simpler truth first, and then dip it in the sweet doctrine\nand be happy in the Lord.\n\nI think I see the gleaner half prepared to come, for she is very hungry,\nand she has nothing with her; but she begins to say, \"I have no right to\ncome, for I am not a reaper; I do nothing for Christ; I am only a\n_selfish gleaner_; I am not a reaper.\" Ah! but thou art invited to come.\nMake no questions about it. Boaz bids thee; take thou his invitation,\nand approach at once. \"But,\" you say, \"I am such a _poor_ gleaner;\nthough my labor is all for myself, yet it is little I win by it; I get a\nfew thoughts while the sermon is being preached, but I lose them before\nI reach home.\" I know you do, poor weak-handed woman. But still, Jesus\ninvites thee. Come! Take thou the sweet promise as he presents it to\nthee, and let no bashfulness of thine send thee home hungry. \"But,\" you\nsay, \"I am _a stranger_; you do not know my sins, my sinfulness, and the\nwaywardness of my heart.\" But Jesus does, and yet he invites you. He\nknows you are but a Moabitess, a stranger from the commonwealth of\nIsrael; but he bids you come. Is not that enough? \"But,\" you say, \"I owe\nso much to him already; it is so good of him to spare my forfeited life,\nand so tender of him to let me hear the gospel preached at all; I cannot\nhave the presumption to be an intruder, and sit with the reapers.\" Oh!\nbut he _bids_ you. There is more presumption in your doubting than there\ncould be in your believing. HE bids you. Will you refuse Boaz? Shall\nJesus' lips give the invitation, and will you say him nay? Come, now,\ncome. Remember that the little which Ruth could eat did not make Boaz\nany the poorer; and all that thou wantest will make Christ none the less\nglorious or full of grace. Are thy necessities large? His supplies are\nlarger. Dost thou require great mercy? He is a great Saviour. I tell\nthee that his mercy is no more to be exhausted than the sea is to be\ndrained. Come at once. There is enough for thee, and Boaz will not be\nimpoverished by thy feasting to the full. Moreover, let me tell thee a\nsecret--Jesus _loves_ thee; therefore is it that he would have thee feed\nat his table. If thou art now a longing, trembling sinner, willing to be\nsaved, but conscious that thou deservest it not, Jesus loves thee, and\nhe will take more delight in seeing thee eat than thou wilt take in the\neating. Let the sweet love he feels in his soul toward thee draw thee to\nhim. And what is more--but this is a great secret, and must only be\nwhispered in your ear--_he intends to be married to you_; and when you\nare married to him, why, the fields will be yours; for, of course, if\nyou are his spouse, you are joint proprietor with him. Is it not so?\nDoth not the wife share with the husband? All those promises which are\n\"yea and amen in Christ\" shall be yours; nay, they all _are_ yours now,\nfor \"the man is next of kin unto you,\" and ere long he will take you\nunto himself forever, espousing you in faithfulness, and truth, and\nrighteousness. Will you not eat of your own? \"Oh! but,\" says one, \"how\ncan it be? I am a stranger.\" Yes, a stranger; but Jesus Christ loves the\nstranger. \"A publican, a sinner;\" but he is \"the friend of publicans and\nsinners.\" \"An outcast;\" but he \"gathereth together the outcasts of\nIsrael.\" \"A stray sheep;\" but the shepherd \"leaves the ninety and nine\"\nto seek it. \"A lost piece of money;\" but he \"sweeps the house\" to find\nthee. \"A prodigal son;\" but he sets the bells a-ringing when he knows\nthat thou wilt return. Come, Ruth! Come, trembling gleaner! Jesus\ninvites thee; accept the invitation. \"At meal-time come thou hither, and\neat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar.\"\n\n\nIII. Now, thirdly--and here is a very sweet point in the narrative--BOAZ\nREACHED HER THE PARCHED CORN. She did \"come and eat.\" Where did she sit?\nNote well that she \"sat beside the reapers.\" She did not feel that she\nwas one of them. Just like some of you who do not come to the Lord's\nSupper, but sit and look on. You are sitting \"beside the reapers.\" You\nfear that you are not the people of God; still you love them, and\ntherefore sit beside them. If there is a good thing to be had, and you\ncannot get it, you will sit as near as you can to those who _do_ get\nit. \"She sat beside the reapers.\"\n\nAnd while she was sitting there, what happened? Did she stretch forth\nher hand and take the food herself? No, it is written, \"HE reached her\nthe parched corn.\" Ah! that is it. None but the Lord of the harvest can\nhand out the choicest refreshments of spiritual minds. I give the\ninvitation in my Master's name, and I hope I give it earnestly,\naffectionately, sincerely; but I know very well that at my poor bidding\nnone will come till the Spirit draws. No trembling heart will accept\ndivine refreshing at my hand; unless the King himself comes near, and\nreaches the parched corn to each chosen guest, none will receive it. How\ndoes he do this? By his gracious Spirit, he first of all _inspires your\nfaith_. You are afraid to think that it can be true that such a sinner\nas you are can ever be \"accepted in the Beloved\"; he breathes upon you,\nand your faint hope becomes an expectancy, and that expectation buds and\nblossoms into an appropriating faith, which says, \"Yes, my beloved is\n_mine_, and his desire is toward _me_.\"\n\nHaving done this, the Saviour does more; _he sheds abroad the love of\nGod in your heart_. The love of Christ is like sweet perfume in a box.\nNow, he who put the perfume in the box is the only person that knows how\nto take off the lid. He, with his own skilful hand, opens the secret\nblessing, and sheds abroad the love of God in the soul.\n\nBut Jesus does more than this; he reaches the parched corn with his own\nhand, when he _gives us close communion with himself_. Do not think that\nthis is a dream; I tell you there is such a thing as speaking with\nChrist to-day. As certainly as I can talk with my dearest friend, or\nfind solace in the company of my beloved wife, so surely may I speak\nwith Jesus, and find intense delight in the company of Immanuel. It is\nnot a fiction. We do not worship a far-off Saviour; he is a God nigh at\nhand. His word is in our mouth and in our heart, and we do to-day walk\nwith him as the elect did of old, and commune with him as his apostles\ndid on earth; not after the flesh, it is true, but after a real and\nspiritual fashion.\n\nYet once more let me add, the Lord Jesus is pleased to reach the parched\ncorn, in the best sense, when _the Spirit gives us the infallible\nwitness within, that we are \"born of God_.\" A man may know that he is a\nChristian beyond all question. Philip de Morny, who lived in the time of\nPrince Henry of Navarre, was wont to say that the Holy Spirit had made\nhis own salvation to him as clear a point as a problem demonstrated in\nEuclid. You know with what mathematical precision the scholar of\ngeometry solves a problem or proves a proposition, and with as absolute\na precision, as certainly as twice two are four, we may \"know that we\nhave passed from death unto life.\" The sun in the heavens is not more\nclear to the eye than his present salvation to an assured believer; such\na man could as soon doubt his own existence as suspect his possession of\neternal life.\n\nNow let the prayer be breathed by poor Ruth, who is trembling yonder.\nLord, reach me the parched corn! \"Show me a token for good.\" \"Deal\nbountifully with thy servant.\" \"Draw me, we will run after thee.\" Lord,\nsend thy love into my heart!\n\n  \"Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,\n     With all thy quickening powers,\n   Come, shed abroad a Saviour's love,\n     And that shall kindle ours.\"\n\nThere is no getting at Christ except by Christ revealing himself to us.\n\n\nIV. And now the last point. After Boaz had reached the parched corn, we\nare told that \"SHE DID EAT, AND WAS SUFFICED, AND LEFT.\" So shall it be\nwith every Ruth. Sooner or later every penitent shall become a believer,\nevery mourner a singer. There may be a space of deep conviction, and a\nperiod of much hesitation; but there shall come a season when the soul\ndecides for the Lord, and cries, \"If I perish, I perish. I will go as I\nam to Jesus. I will not play the fool any longer with my _buts_ and\n_ifs_, but since he bids me believe that he died for me, I _will_\nbelieve it, and will trust his cross for my salvation.\" Whenever you\nshall be privileged to do this, you shall be \"_satisfied_.\" \"She did\neat, and was sufficed.\" Your _head_ shall be satisfied with the precious\ntruth which Christ reveals; your _heart_ shall be content with Jesus, as\nthe altogether lovely object of affection; your _hope_ shall be filled,\nfor whom have you in heaven but Christ? Your _desire_ shall be satiated,\nfor what can even your desire hunger for more than \"to know Christ, and\nto be found in him.\" You shall find Jesus charm your _conscience_, till\nit is at perfect peace; he shall content your _judgment_, till you know\nthe certainty of his teachings; he shall supply your _memory_ with\nrecollections of what he did, and gratify your _imagination_ with the\nprospects of what he is yet to do.\n\n\"She was sufficed, and left.\" Some of us have had deep draughts of love;\nwe have thought that we could take in all of Christ, but when we have\ndone our best, we have had to leave a vast remainder. We have sat down\nwith a ravenous appetite at the table of the Lord's love, and said,\n\"Nothing but the infinite can ever satisfy me,\" and that infinite has\nbeen granted us. I have felt that I am such a great sinner that nothing\nshort of an infinite atonement could wash my sins away, and no doubt you\nhave felt the same; but we have had our sin removed, and found merit\nenough and to spare in Jesus; we have had our hunger relieved, and found\na redundance remaining for others who are in a similar case. There are\ncertain sweet things in the Word of God which you and I have not enjoyed\nyet, and which we cannot enjoy yet; and these we are obliged to leave\nfor a while, till we are better prepared to receive them. Did not our\nLord say, \"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear\nthem now\"? There is a special knowledge to which we have not attained, a\nplace of intimate fellowship with Christ which we have not yet occupied.\nThere are heights of communion which as yet our feet have not\nclimbed--virgin snows of the mountain of God untrodden by the foot of\nman. There is yet a beyond, and there will be for ever.\n\nA verse or two further on we are told what Ruth did with her leavings.\nIt is very wrong, I believe, at feasts to carry anything home with you;\nbut _she_ was not under any such regulation, for that which was left she\ntook home and gave to Naomi. So it shall be even with you, poor\ntremblers, who think you have no right to a morsel for yourselves; you\nshall be allowed to eat, and when you are quite sufficed, you shall have\ncourage to bear away a portion to others who are hungering at home. I am\nalways pleased to find the young believer beginning to pocket something\nfor others. When you hear a sermon you think, \"My poor mother cannot get\nout to-day; how I wish she could have been here, for that sentence\nwould have comforted _her_. If I forget everything else, I will tell her\nthat.\" Cultivate an unselfish spirit. Seek to love as you have been\nloved. Remember that \"the law and the prophets\" are fulfilled in this,\nto love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your neighbor as\nyourself. How can you love your neighbor as yourself if you do not love\nhis soul? You _have_ loved your own soul; through grace you have been\nled to lay hold on Jesus; love your neighbor's soul, and never be\nsatisfied till you see him in the enjoyment of those things which are\nthe charm of your life and the joy of our spirit. Take home your\ngleanings for those you love who cannot glean for themselves.\n\nI do not know how to give you an invitation to Christ more pleasantly,\nbut I would with my whole heart cry, \"Come and welcome to Jesus.\" I pray\nmy Lord and Master to reach a handful of parched corn of comfort to you\nif you are a trembling sinner, and I also beg him to make you eat till\nyou are fully sufficed.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LOADED WAGON.\n\n\"Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of\nsheaves.\"--AMOS 2:13.\n\n\nWE have been into the cornfields to glean with Boaz and Ruth; and I\ntrust that the timid and faint-hearted have been encouraged to partake\nof the handfuls which are let fall on purpose for them by the order of\nour generous Lord. We go to-day to the gate of the harvest-field with\nanother object--to see the wagon piled up aloft with many sheaves come\ncreaking forth, making ruts along the field. We come with gratitude to\nGod, thanking him for the harvest, blessing him for favorable weather,\nand praying him to continue the same till the last shock of corn shall\nbe brought in, and the husbandmen everywhere shall shout the \"Harvest\nHome.\"\n\nWhat a picture is a wagon loaded with corn of you and of me, as loaded\nwith God's mercies! From our cradle up till now, every day has added a\nsheaf of blessing. What could the Lord do for us more than he has done?\nHe has daily loaded us with benefits. Let us adore his goodness, and\nyield him our cheerful gratitude.\n\nAlas! that such a sign should be capable of another reading. Alas! that\nwhile God loadeth us with mercy, we should load him with sin. While he\ncontinually heapeth on sheaf after sheaf of favor we also add iniquity\nunto iniquity, till the weight of our sin becomes intolerable to the\nMost High, and he cries out by reason of the burden, saying, \"I am\npressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.\"\n\nOur text begins with a \"_Behold!_\" and well it may. \"Beholds\" are put in\nthe Bible as signs are hung out from houses of business, to attract\nattention. There is something new, important, deeply impressive, or\nworthy of attention wherever we see a \"Behold\" in sacred Scripture. I\nsee this \"Behold!\" standing, as it were, like a maiden upon the steps of\nthe house of wisdom, crying, \"Turn in hither, O ye that are\nwise-hearted, and listen to the voice of God.\" Let us open our eyes that\nwe may \"behold,\" and may the Spirit make a way through our eyes and ears\nto our hearts, that repentance and self-abhorrence may take hold upon\nus, because of our evil conduct towards our gracious God.\n\nIt is to be understood before we proceed farther, that our text is only\na figure, since God cannot actually be oppressed by man; all the sin\nthat man may commit can never disturb the serenity of the divine\nperfection, nor cause so much as a wave upon his everlasting calm. He\ndoth but speak to us after the manner of man, and bring down the\nsublimities and mysteries of heaven to the feebleness and ignorance of\nearth. He speaketh to us as a great father may talk to his little child.\nJust as a cart has the axles bent, and as the wheels creak under the\nexcessive load, so the Lord says that under the load of human guilt he\nis pressed down, until he crieth out, because he can bear no longer the\niniquity of those that offend against him. We shall now turn to our\nfirst point; may the Holy Ghost make it pointed to our consciences!\n\nThe first and most apparent truth in the text is, that SIN IS VERY\nGRIEVOUS AND BURDENSOME TO GOD.\n\nBe astonished, O heavens, and be amazed, O earth, that God should speak\nof being pressed and weighed down! I do not read anywhere so much as\nhalf a suggestion that the whole burden of _creation_ is any weight to\nthe Most High. \"He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.\" Neither\nsun, nor moon, nor stars, nor all the ponderous orbs which his\nomnipotence has created, cost him any labor in their sustenance. The\nheathen picture Atlas as stooping beneath the globe; but the eternal\nGod, who beareth up the pillars of the universe, \"fainteth not, neither\nis weary.\" Nor do I find even the most distant approach to a suggestion\nthat _providence_ fatigues its Lord. He watches both by night and day;\nhis power goeth forth every moment. 'Tis he who bringeth forth Mazzaroth\nin his season and guideth Arcturus with his sons. He beareth up the\nfoundations of the earth! and holdeth the cornerstone thereof. He\ncauseth the dayspring to know its place, and setteth a bound to darkness\nand the shadow of death. All things are supported by the power of his\nhand, and there is nothing without him. Just as a moment's foam subsides\ninto the wave that bears it and is lost for ever, so would the universe\ndepart if the eternal God did not daily sustain it. This incessant\nworking has not diminished his strength, nor is there any failing or\nthought of failing with him. He worketh all things, and when they are\nwrought they are as nothing in his sight. But strange, most passing\nstrange, miraculous among miracles, _sin_ burdens God, though the world\ncannot; and iniquity presses the Most High, though the whole weight of\nprovidence is as the small dust of the balance. Ah, ye careless sons of\nAdam, ye think sin a trifle; and as for you, ye sons of Belial, ye\ncount it sport, and say, \"He regardeth not; he seeth not; how doth God\nknow? and if he knoweth he careth not for our sins.\" Learn ye from the\nBook of God, that so far from this being the truth, your sins are a\ngrief to him, a burden and a load to him, till, like a cart that is\noverloaded with sheaves, so is he weighed down with human guilt.\n\nThis will be very clear if we meditate for a moment upon what sin is,\nand what sin does. _Sin is the great spoiler of all God's works._ Sin\nturned an archangel into an archfiend, and angels of light into spirits\nof evil. Sin looked on Eden and withered all its flowers. Ere sin had\ncome the Creator said of the new-made earth, \"It is very good\"; but when\nsin had entered, it grieved God at his very heart that he had made such\na creature as man. Nothing tarnishes beauty so much as sin, for it mars\nGod's image and erases his superscription.\n\nMoreover, _sin makes God's creatures unhappy_, and shall not the Lord,\ntherefore, abhor it? God never designed that any creature of his hand\nshould be miserable. He made the creatures on purpose that they should\nbe glad; he gave the birds their song, the flowers their perfume, the\nair its balm; he gave to day the smiling sun and to night its coronet of\nstars; for he intended that smiles should be his perpetual worship, and\njoy the incense of his praise. But sin has made God's favorite creature\na wretch, and brought down God's offspring, made in his own image, to\nbecome naked, and poor, and miserable; and therefore God hateth sin, and\nis pressed down under it, because it maketh the objects of his love\nunhappy at their heart.\n\nMoreover, remember that _sin attacks God in all his attributes_, assails\nhim on his throne, and stabs at his existence. What is sin? Is it not\nan insult to God's _wisdom_? O sinner, God biddeth thee do his will;\nwhen thou doest the contrary it is because thou dost as much as say, \"I\nknow what is good for me, and God does not know.\" You do in effect\ndeclare that infinite wisdom is in error, and that you, the creature of\na day, are the best judge of happiness. Sin impugns God's _goodness_;\nfor by sin you declare that God has denied you that which would make you\nhappy, and this is not the part of a good, tender, and loving Father.\nSin cuts at the Lord's wisdom with one hand, and at his goodness with\nthe other.\n\nSin also abuses the _mercy_ of God. When you, as many of you have done,\nsin with the higher hand because of his long-suffering toward you; when,\nbecause you have no sickness, no losses, no crosses, therefore you spend\nyour time in revelry and obstinate rebellion--what is this but taking\nthe mercy which was meant for your good and turning it into mischief? It\nis no small grief to the loving father to see his substance spent with\nharlots in riotous living; he cannot endure it that his child should be\nso degraded as to turn even the mercy which would woo him to repentance\ninto a reason why he should sin the more against him. Besides, let me\nremind the careless and impenitent that every sin is a defiance of\ndivine _power_. In effect it is lifting your puny fists against the\nmajesty of heaven, and defying God to destroy you. Every time you sin,\nyou defy the Lord to prove whether he can maintain his law or no. Is\nthis a slight thing, that a worm, the creature of a day, should defy the\nLord of ages, the God that filleth and upholdeth all things by the word\nof his power? Well may he be weary, when he has to bear with such\nprovocations and insults as those! Mention what attribute you will, and\nsin has blotted it; speak of God in any relationship you choose, and sin\nhas cast a slur upon him. It is evil, only evil, and that continually;\nin every view of it must be offensive to the Most High. Sinner, dost\nthou know that every act of disobedience to God's law is virtually an\nact of _high treason_? What dost thou do but seek to be God thyself,\nthine own master, thine own lord? Every time thou swervest from his\nwill, it is to put thy will into his place; it is to make thyself a god,\nand to undeify the Most High. And is this a little offence, to snatch\nfrom his brow the crown, and from his hand the sceptre? I tell thee it\nis such an act that heaven itself could not stand unless it were\nresented; if this crime were suffered to go unpunished, the wheels of\nheaven's commonwealth would be taken from their axles, and the whole\nframe of moral government would be unhinged. Such a treason against God\nshall certainly be visited with punishment.\n\nTo crown all, _sin is an onslaught upon God himself_, for sin is atheism\nof heart. Let his religious profession be what it may, the sinner hath\nsaid in his heart, \"No God.\" He wishes that there were no law and no\nSupreme Ruler. Is this a trifle? To be a Deicide! To desire to put God\nout of his own world! Is this a thing to be winked at? Can the Most High\nhear it and not be pressed down beneath its weight? I pray you do not\nthink that I would make a needless outcry against sin and disobedience.\nIt is not in the power of human imagination to exaggerate the evil of\nsin, nor will it ever be possible for mortal lips, though they should be\ntouched like those of Esaias with a live coal from off the altar, to\nthunder out the ten-thousandth part of the enormity of the least sin\nagainst God. Think, dear friends! We are his creatures, and yet we will\nnot do his will. We are fed by him, the breath in our nostrils he gives\nus, and yet we spend that breath in murmuring and rebellion.\n\nOnce more, we are always in the sight of our omniscient God, and yet the\npresence of God is not enough to compel us to obedience. Surely if a man\nshould insult law in the very presence of the lawgiver, that were not to\nbe borne with; but this is your case and mine. We must confess, \"Against\nthee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.\" We\nmust remember also, that we offend, knowing that we are offending. We do\nnot sin as the Hottentot, or the cannibal. We in England sin against\nextraordinary light and sevenfold knowledge; and is this a light thing?\nCan you expect that God shall pass by wilful and deliberate offences?\nOh, that these lips had language, that this heart could burn for once!\nfor if I could declare the horrible infamy of sin it would make the\nblood chill in even a haughty Pharaoh's veins, and proud Nebuchadnezzar\nwould bow his head in fear. It is indeed a terrible thing to have\nrebelled against the Most High. The Lord have mercy upon his servants\nand forgive them.\n\nThis is our first point, but _I_ cannot teach you it, God himself must\nteach it by his Spirit. Oh, that the Holy Ghost may make you feel that\nsin is exceedingly sinful, so that it is grievous and burdensome to God!\n\n\nSecondly, SOME SINS ARE MORE ESPECIALLY GRIEVOUS TO GOD. The connection\nof our text will help you to see the force of this observation.\n\nThere is no such thing as a little sin, but still there are degrees of\nguilt, and it were folly to say that a sinful thought hath in it the\nsame extent of evil as a sinful act. A filthy imagination is\nsinful--wholly sinful and greatly sinful, but still a filthy act has\nattained a higher degree of provocation. There are sins which especially\nprovoke God. In the connection of the text we read that _licentiousness_\ndoes this. The Jewish people in the days of Amos seem to have gone to a\nvery high degree of fornication and lechery. This sin is not uncommon in\nour day; let our midnight streets and our divorce courts be the witness.\nI say no more. Let each one keep his body pure; for want of chastity is\na grievous evil before the Lord.\n\n_Oppression_, too, according to the prophet, is another great\nprovocation to God. The prophet speaks of selling the poor for a pair of\nshoes; and some would grind the widow and the orphan, and make the\nlaborer toil for nought. How many business men have no \"bowels of\ncompassion.\" Men form themselves into societies, and then exact an\noutrageous usury upon loans from the unhappy beings who fall into their\nhands. Cunning legal quibbles and crafty evasions of just debts often\namount to heavy oppression, and are sure to bring down the anger of the\nMost High.\n\nThen, again, it seems that _idolatry_ and _blasphemy_ are highly\noffensive to God, and have a high degree of heinousness. He says that\nthe people drank the wine of false gods. If any man sets up his belly,\nor his gold, or his wealth as his god, and if he lives to these instead\nof living to the Most High, he hath offended by idolatry. Woe to such,\nand equal woe to those who adore crosses, sacraments, or images.\n\nSpecially is _blasphemy_ a God-provoking sin. For blasphemy there is no\nexcuse. As George Herbert says, \"Lust and wine plead a pleasure;\" there\nis gain to be pleaded for avarice, \"but the cheap swearer from his open\nsluice lets his soul run for nought.\" There is nothing gained by profane\ntalk; there can be no pleasure in cursing; this is offending for\noffending's sake, and hence it is a high and crying sin, which makes the\nLord grow weary of men. There may be some among you to whom these words\nmay be personal accusations. Do I address the lecherous, or the\noppressive, or the profane? Ah, soul, what a mercy God hath borne with\nthee so long; the time will come, however, when he will say, \"Ah, I will\nease me of mine adversaries,\" and how easily will he cast you off and\nappoint you an awful destruction.\n\nAgain, while some sins are thus grievous to God for their peculiar\nheinousness, many men are especially obnoxious to God because of the\n_length_ of their sin. That gray-headed man, how many times has he\nprovoked the Most High! Why, those who are but lads have cause to count\ntheir years and apply their hearts unto wisdom because of the length of\ntime they have lived in rebellion; but what shall I say of you who have\nbeen half a century in open war against God--and some of you sixty,\nseventy, what if I said near upon eighty years? Ah, you have had eighty\nyears of mercies, and returned eighty years of neglect: for eighty years\nof patience you have rendered eighty years of ingratitude. O God, well\nmayest thou be wearied by the length and number of man's sins!\n\nFurthermore, God taketh special note and feeleth an especial weariness\nof sin that is mixed with _obstinacy_. Oh how obstinate some men are!\nThey _will_ be damned; there is no helping them; they seem as if they\nwould leap the Alps to reach perdition, and swim through seas of fire\nthat they may destroy their souls. I might tell you cases of men that\nhave been sore sick of fever, ague, and cholera, and they have only\nrecovered their health to return to their sins. Some of them have had\ntroubles in business, thick and threefold: they were once in respectable\ncircumstances, but they spent their living riotously, and they became\npoor; yet they still struggle on in sin. They are growing poorer every\nday, most of their clothes have gone to the pawnshop; but they will not\nturn from the tavern and the brothel. Another child is dead! The wife is\nsick, and starvation stares the family in the face; but they go on still\nwith a high hand and an outstretched arm. This is obstinacy, indeed.\nSinner! God will let thee have thine own way one of these days, and that\nway will be thine everlasting ruin. God is weary of those who set\nthemselves to do mischief, and, against warnings, and invitations, and\nentreaties, are determined to go on in sin.\n\nThe context seems to tell us that _ingratitude_ is intensely burdensome\nto God. He tells the people how he brought them out of Egypt; how he\ncast out the Amorites; how he raised up their sons for prophets, and\ntheir young men for Nazarites; and yet they rebelled against him! This\nwas one of the things that pricked my heart when I first came to God as\na guilty sinner, not so much the peculiar heinousness of my outward\nlife, as the peculiar mercies that I had enjoyed. How generous God has\nbeen to some of us--some of us who never had a want! God has never cast\nus into poverty, nor left us to infamy, nor given us up to evil\nexample, but he has kept us moral, and made us love his house even when\nwe did not love _him_, and all this he has done year after year: and\nwhat poor returns we have made! To us, his people, what joy he has\ngiven, what deliverances, what love, what comfort, what bliss--and yet\nwe have sinned to his face! Well may he be as a cart that is pressed\ndown, that is full of sheaves.\n\nLet me observe, before I leave this point, that it seems from our text,\nthat the Lord is so pressed, that _he even crieth out_. Just as the cart\nwhen laden with the sheaves, groaneth under the weight, so the Lord\ncrieth out under the load of sin. Have you never heard those accents?\n\"Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I\nhave nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against\nme!\" Hear again: \"Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye\ndie, O house of Israel?\" Better still, hear the lament from the lip of\nJesus, soft and gentle as the dew--\"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that\nkillest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how\noften would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen\ngathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!\" Sinner, God\nis cut to the heart by thy sin; thy Creator grieves over that which thou\nlaughest at; thy Saviour crieth out in his spirit concerning that which\nthou thinkest to be a trifle--\"O do not this abominable thing which I\nhate!\" For God's sake do it not! We often say \"for God's sake,\" without\nknowing what we mean; but here see what it means, for the sake of God,\nthat ye grieve not your Creator, that ye cause not the Eternal One\nhimself to cry out by reason of weariness of you. Cease ye, cease ye,\nfrom your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? I now\nleave those two points to pass on very briefly to the next.\n\n\nWhile it is true that sin is grievous to the Lord, it magnifies his\nmercy when we see that HE BEARS THE LOAD. As the cart is not said to\nbreak, but is pressed only, so is he pressed, and yet he bears. If you\nand I were in God's place, should we have borne it? Nay, within a week\nwe should have burned the universe with fire, or trodden it to powder\nbeneath our feet. If the Law of heaven were as swift to punish as the\nlaw of man, where were we? How easily could he avenge his honor! How\nmany servants wait around him ready to do his bidding! As the Roman\nconsul went out, attended by his lictors carrying the axe, so God is\never attended by his executioners, who are ready to fulfil his sentence.\nA stone, a tile from a roof, a thunderbolt, a puff of wind, a grain of\ndust, a whiff of gas, a broken blood-vessel, and all is over, and you\nare dead, and in the hands of an angry God. Indeed, the Lord has to\nrestrain the servants of his anger, for the heavens cry, \"Why should we\ncover that wretch's head?\" Earth asks, \"Why should I yield at harvest to\nthe sinner's plough?\" The lightnings thunder, and say, \"Let us smite the\nrebel,\" and the seas roar upon the sinner, desiring him as their prey.\nThere is no greater proof of the omnipotence of God than his\nlong-suffering; for it shows the greatest possible power for God to be\nable to control himself. Sinner, yet Jehovah bears with thee. The angels\nhave been astonished at it; they thought he would strike, but yet he\nbears with you. Have you ever seen a patient man insulted? He has been\nmet in the street by a villain, who insults him before a mob of boys.\nHe bears it. The fellow spits in his face. He bears it still. The\noffender strikes him. He endures it quietly. \"Give him in charge,\" says\none. \"No,\" says he, \"I forgive him all.\" The fellow knocks him down, and\nrolls him in the kennel, but he bears it still; yes, and when he rises\nall covered with mire, he says, \"If there be anything that I can do to\nbefriend you, I will do it now.\" Just at that moment the wretch is\narrested by a sheriff's officer for debt; the man who has been insulted\ntakes out his purse and pays the debt, and says, \"You may go free.\" See,\nthe wretch spits in his face after that! \"Now,\" you say, \"let the law\nhave its way with him.\" Is there any room for patience now? So would it\nhave been with man; it has not been so with God. Though like the cart he\nis pressed under the load of sheaves, yet like the cart the axle does\nnot break. He bears the load. He bears with impenitent sinners still.\n\n\nAnd this brings me to the fourth head, on which I would have your\ndeepest attention. Some of you, I fear, have never seen sin in the light\nof grieving God, or else you would not wish to grieve him any more. On\nthe other hand some of you feel how bitter a thing evil is, and you wish\nto be rid of it. This is our fourth head. Not only doth God still bear\nwith sin, but GOD, IN THE PERSON OF HIS SON, DID BEAR AND TAKE AWAY SIN.\n\nThese words would have deep meaning if put into the lips of Jesus--\"I am\npressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.\" Here\nstood the great problem. God must punish sin, and yet he desired to have\nmercy. How could it be? Lo! Jesus comes to be the substitute for all who\ntrust him. The load of guilt is laid upon his shoulders. See how they\npile on him the sheaves of human sin!\n\n  \"My soul looks back to see\n     The burdens thou didst bear,\n   When hanging on the cursed tree,\n     And hopes her guilt was there.\"\n\n\"The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.\" There they lie,\nsheaf on sheaf, till he is pressed down like the wain that groaneth as\nit moves along. \"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows,\nand acquainted with grief.\" See him, he did \"sweat as it were great\ndrops of blood falling to the ground.\" Herod mocks him. Pilate jeers\nhim. They have smitten the Prince of Judah upon the cheek. \"I gave my\nback to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I\nhid not my face from shame and spitting.\" They have tied him to the\npillar; they are beating him with rods, not this time forty stripes\n_save one_, for there is no \"save one\" with him. \"The chastisement of\nour peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.\" See him;\nlike a cart pressed down with sheaves traversing the streets of\nJerusalem. Well may ye weep, ye daughters of Jerusalem, though he bids\nye dry your tears! Abjects hoot at him as he walks along bowed beneath\nthe load of his own cross, which was the emblem of our sin. They bring\nhim to Golgotha. They throw him on his back, they stretch out his hands\nand his feet. The accursed iron penetrates the tenderest part of his\nbody, where most the nerves do congregate. They lift up the cross. O\nbleeding Saviour, thy time of woe is come! They dash it into the socket\nwith cruel force, the nails are tearing through his hands and feet. He\nhangeth in extremity, for God hath forsaken him; his enemies persecute\nand take him, for there is none to deliver him. They mock his nakedness;\nthey point at his agonies. They look and stare upon him. With ribald\njests they insult his griefs. They make puns upon his prayers. He is now\nindeed a worm, and no man, crushed till you can scarcely think that\ndivinity dwells within him. Fever parches him; his tongue is dried up\nlike a potsherd, and he cries, \"I thirst!\" Vinegar is all they yield\nhim. The sun refuses to shine, and the dense midnight of that awful\nmid-day is a fitting emblem of the tenfold darkness of his soul. Out of\nthat all-encompassing horror he crieth, \"My God, my God, why hast thou\nforsaken me?\" Then, indeed, was he pressed down! There was never sorrow\nlike unto his sorrow. All mortal griefs found a reservoir in his heart,\nand the punishment of human guilt spent itself upon his body and his\nsoul. Shall sin ever be a trifle to me? Shall I laugh at that which made\nmy Saviour groan? Shall I toy and dally with that which stabbed him to\nthe heart? Sinner, wilt thou not give up thy sins for the sake of him\nwho suffered for sin? \"Yes,\" sayest thou, \"yes, if I could believe that\nhe suffered for my sake.\" Wilt thou trust thy soul in his hands at once?\nDost thou do so? Then he died _for thee_ and took _thy_ guilt, and\ncarried all _thy_ sorrows, and thou mayest go free, for God is\nsatisfied, and thou art absolved. Christ was burdened that thou mightest\nbe lightened; he was pressed that thou mightest be free. I would I could\ntalk of my precious Master as John would speak, who saw him and bare\nwitness, for he could tell in plaintive tones of the sorrows of Calvary.\nSuch as I have I give you; oh that God would give you with it the\npower, the grace to believe on Jesus at once.\n\n\nV. For if not, and here is our last point, God will only bear the load\nof our provocation for a little while; and if we are not in Christ when\nthe end shall come, THAT SAME LOAD WILL CRUSH US FOREVER.\n\nMy text is translated by many learned men in a different way from the\nversion before us. According to them it should be read, \"I will press\nyou as a cart that is full of sheaves presseth your place.\" That is,\njust as a heavy loaded wagon pressed into the soft eastern roads and\nleft deep furrows, so will I crush you, saith God, beneath the load of\nyour sin. This is to be your doom, my hearer, if you are out of Christ:\nyour own deeds are to press upon you. Need we enlarge upon this terror?\nI think not. It only needs that you should make a personal application\nof the threatening! Divide yourselves now. Divide yourselves, I say!\nAnswer each one for himself--Dost thou believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?\nthen the threatening is not thine. But if thou believest not I conjure\nthee listen to me now as if thou wert the only person here. A Christless\nsoul will ere long be a castaway; he that believeth not in Christ is\ncondemned already, because he believeth not. How wilt thou escape if\nthou wilt neglect so great salvation? Thus saith the Lord unto thee,\n\"Consider thy ways.\" By time, by eternity, by life, by death, by heaven,\nby hell, I do conjure thee believe in him who is able to save unto the\nuttermost them that come unto him; but if thou believest not in Christ\nthou shalt die in thy sins.\n\nAfter death the judgment! Oh! the judgment, the thundering trumpet, the\nmultitude, the books, the great white throne, the \"Come, ye blessed,\"\nthe \"Depart, ye cursed!\"\n\nAfter judgment, to a soul that is out of Christ, Hell! Who among us? who\n_among us_ shall abide with the devouring flame? Who among US? Who among\nUS shall dwell with everlasting burnings? I pray that none of us may.\nBut we _must_ unless we fly to Christ. I beseech thee, my dear hearer,\nfly to Jesus! I may never see thy face again; thine eyes may never look\ninto mine again; but I shake my skirts of thy blood if thou believest\nnot in Christ. My tears entreat thee; let his long-suffering lead thee\nto repentance. He willeth not the death of any, but that they should\nturn unto him and live: and this turning lies mainly in trusting Jesus\nwith your soul. Wilt thou believe in Christ? Nay, I know thou wilt not\nunless the Spirit of God shall constrain thee; but if thou wilt not, it\nshall not be for want of pleading and entreating. Come, 'tis mercy's\nwelcome hour. I pray thee, come. Jesus with pierced hands invites thee,\nthough thou hast long rejected him. He knocks again. His unconquerable\nlove defies thy wickedness. He begs thee to be saved. Sinner, wilt thou\nhave him or no? \"Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of\nlife freely.\" God help you to come, for the glorious Redeemer's sake.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nTHRESHING.\n\n\"For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither\nis a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten\nout with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. Bread corn is bruised;\nbecause he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of\nhis cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.\"--ISAIAH 28:27, 28.\n\n\nTHE art of husbandry was taught to man by God. He would have starved\nwhile he was discovering it, and so the Lord, when he sent him out of\nthe Garden of Eden, gave him a measure of elementary instruction in\nagriculture, even as the prophet puts it--\"His God doth instruct him to\ndiscretion, and doth teach him.\" God has taught man to plough, to break\nthe clods, to sow the different kinds of grain, and to thresh out the\ndifferent sorts of seeds.\n\nThe Eastern husbandman could not thresh by machinery as we do; but still\nhe was ingenious and discreet in that operation. Sometimes a heavy\ninstrument was dragged over the corn to tear out the grain. This is what\nis intended in the first clause by the \"threshing instrument,\" as also\nin that passage, \"I have made thee a sharp threshing instrument having\nteeth.\" When the corn-drag was not used, they often turned the heavy\nsolid wheel of a country cart over the straw. This is alluded to in the\nnext sentence: \"Neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin.\"\nThey had also flails not very unlike our own, and then for still\nsmaller seeds, such as dill and cummin, they used a simple staff, or a\nslender switch. \"The fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin\nwith a rod.\"\n\nThis is not the time or place to give a dissertation upon threshing. We\nfind every information upon that subject in proper books; but the\nmeaning of the illustration is this--that as God has taught husbandmen\nto distinguish between different kinds of grain in the threshing, so\ndoes he in his infinite wisdom deal discreetly with different sorts of\nmen. He does not try us all alike, seeing we are differently\nconstituted. He does not pass us all through the same agony of\nconviction: we are not all to the same extent threshed with terrors. He\ndoes not give us all to endure the same family or bodily affliction; one\nescapes with only being beaten with a rod, while another feels, as it\nwere, the feet of horses in his heavy tribulations.\n\nOur subject is just this. _Threshing_: all kinds of seeds need it, _all\nsorts of men need it_. Secondly, _the threshing is done with\ndiscretion_, and, thirdly, _the threshing will not last forever_; for so\nthe second verse of the text says: \"Bread corn is bruised; because he\nwill not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart,\nnor bruise it with his horseman.\"\n\n\nI. First, then, WE ALL NEED THRESHING. Some have a foolish conceit of\nthemselves that they have no sin; but they deceive themselves, and the\ntruth is not in them. The best of men are men at the best; and being\nmen, they are not perfect, but are still compassed about with infirmity.\nWhat is the object of threshing the grain? Is it not to separate it from\nthe straw and the chaff?\n\n_About the best of men there is still a measure of chaff._ All is not\ngrain that lies upon the threshing-floor. All is not grain even in those\ngolden sheaves which have been brought into our garner so joyfully. Even\nthe wheat is joined to the straw, which was necessary to it at one time.\nAbout the kernel of the wheat the husk is wrapped, and this still clings\nto it even when it lies upon the threshing-floor. About the holiest of\nmen there is something superfluous, something which must be removed. We\neither sin by omission or by trespass. Either in spirit, or motive, or\nlack of zeal, or want of discretion, we are faulty. If we escape one\nerror, we usually glide into its opposite. If before an action we are\nright, we err in the doing of it, or, if not, we become proud after it\nis over. If sin be shut out at the front door, it tries the back gate,\nor climbs in at the window, or comes down the chimney. Those who cannot\nperceive it in themselves are frequently blinded by its smoke. They are\nso thoroughly in the water that they do not know that it rains. So far\nas my own observation goes I have found out no man whom the old divines\nwould have called perfectly perfect; the absolutely all-round man is a\nbeing whom I expect to see in heaven, but not in this poor fallen world.\nWe all need such cleansing and purging as the threshing-floor is\nintended to work for us.\n\nNow, _threshing is useful in loosening the connection between the good\ncorn and the husk_. Of course, if it would slip out easily from its\nhusk, the corn would only need to be shaken. There would be no necessity\nfor a staff or a rod, much less for the feet of horses, or the wheel of\na cart to separate it. But there's the rub: our soul not only lieth in\nthe dust, but \"cleaveth\" to it. There is a fearful intimacy between\nfallen human nature and the evil which is in the world; and this compact\nis not soon broken. In our hearts we hate every false way, and yet we\nsorrowfully confess, \"When I would do good, evil is present with me.\"\nSometimes when our spirit cries out most ardently after God, a holy will\nis present with us, but how to perform that which is good we find not.\nFlesh and blood have tendencies and weaknesses which, if not sinful in\nthemselves, yet tend in that direction. Appetites need but slight\nexcitement to germinate into lusts. It is not easy for us to forget our\nown kindred and our father's house even when the king doth most greatly\ndesire our beauty. Our alien nature remembers Egypt and the flesh-pots\nwhile yet the manna is in our mouths. We were all born in the house of\nevil, and some of us were nursed upon the lap of iniquity, so that our\nfirst companionships were among the heirs of wrath. That which was bred\nin the bone is hard to get out of the flesh. Threshing is used to loosen\nour hold of earthly things and break us away from evil. This needs a\ndivine hand, and nothing but the grace of God can make the threshing\neffectual. Something is done by threshing when the soul ceases to be\nbound up with its sin, and sin is no longer pleasurable or satisfactory.\nStill, as the work of threshing is never done till the corn is separated\naltogether from the husk, so chastening and discipline have never\naccomplished their design till God's people give up every form of evil,\nand abhor all iniquity. When we shake right out of the straw, and have\nnothing further to do with sin, then the flail will lie quiet. It has\ntaken a good deal of threshing to bring some of us anywhere near that\nmark, and I am afraid many more heavy blows will be struck before we\nshall reach the total separation. From a certain sort of sins we are\nvery easily separated by the grace of God early in our spiritual life;\nbut when those are gone, another layer of evils comes into sight, and\nthe work has to be repeated. The complete removal of our connection with\nsin is a work demanding the divine skill and power of the Holy Ghost,\nand by him only will it be accomplished.\n\nThreshing becomes needful for the sake of our usefulness; for the wheat\nmust come out of the husk to be of service. We can only honor God and\nbless men by being holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.\nO corn of the Lord's threshing-floor, thou must be beaten and bruised,\nor perish as a worthless heap! Eminent usefulness usually necessitates\neminent affliction.\n\nUnless thus severed from sin, we cannot be gathered into the garner.\nGod's pure wheat must not be defiled by an admixture of chaff. There\nshall in nowise enter into heaven anything that defileth, therefore\nevery sort of imperfection must come away from us by some means or other\nere we can enter into the state of eternal blessedness and perfection.\nYea, even here we cannot have true fellowship with the Father unless we\nare daily delivered from sin.\n\nPeradventure some of us to-day are lying up on the threshing-floor,\nsuffering from the blows of chastisement. What then? Why, let us rejoice\ntherein; for _this testifies to our value in the sight of God_. If the\nwheat were to cry out and say, \"The great drag has gone over me,\ntherefore the husbandman has no care for me,\" we should instantly\nreply--The husbandman does not pass the corn-drag over the darnel or the\nnettles; it is only over the precious wheat that he turns the wheel of\nhis cart, or the feet of his oxen. Because he esteems the wheat,\ntherefore he deals sternly with it and spares it not. Judge not, O\nbeliever, that God hates you because he afflicts you; but interpret\ntruly and see that he honors you by every stroke which he lays upon you.\nThus saith the Lord, \"You only have I known of all the nations of the\nearth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.\" Because a\nfull atonement has been made by the Lord Jesus for all his people's\nsins, therefore he will not punish us as a judge; but because we are his\ndear children, therefore he will chastise us as a father. In love he\ncorrects his own children that he may perfect them in his own image, and\nmake them partakers of his holiness. Is it not written, \"I will bring\nthem under the rod of the covenant\"? Has he not said, \"I have refined\nthee, but not with silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of\naffliction\"? Therefore do not judge according to the sight of the eyes\nor the feeling of the flesh, but judge according to faith, and\nunderstand that, as threshing is a testimony to the value of the wheat,\nso affliction is a token of God's delight in his people.\n\nRemember, however, that as threshing is a sign of the impurity of the\nwheat, so is _affliction an indication of the present imperfection of\nthe Christian_. If you were no more connected with evil, you would be no\nmore corrected with sorrow. The sound of a flail is never heard in\nheaven, for it is not the threshing-floor of the imperfect but the\ngarner of the completely sanctified. The threshing instrument is\ntherefore a humbling token, and so long as we feel it we should humble\nourselves under the hand of God, for it is clear that we are not yet\nfree from the straw and the chaff of fallen nature.\n\nOn the other hand, the instrument is _a prophecy of our future\nperfection_. We are undergoing from the hand of God a discipline which\nwill not fail: we shall by his prudence and wisdom be clean delivered\nfrom the husk of sin. We are feeling the blows of the staff, but we are\nbeing effectually separated from the evil which has so long surrounded\nus, and for certain we shall one day be pure and perfect. Every tendency\nto sin shall be beaten off. \"Foolishness is bound in the heart of a\nchild; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.\" If, we\nbeing evil, yet succeed with our children by our poor, imperfect\nchastening, how much more shall the Father of spirits cause us to live\nunto himself by his holy discipline? If the corn could know the\nnecessary uses of the flail, it would invite the thresher to his work;\nand since we know whereunto tribulation tendeth, let us glory in it, and\nyield ourselves with cheerfulness to its processes. We need threshing,\nthe threshing proves our value in God's sight, and while it marks our\nimperfection, it secures our ultimate cleansing.\n\n\nII. Secondly, I would remark that GOD'S THRESHING IS DONE WITH GREAT\nDISCRETION; \"for the fitches are not threshed with a threshing\ninstrument.\" The poor little fitches, a kind of small seed used for\nflavoring cakes, were not crushed out with a heavy drag, for by such\nrough usage they would have been broken up and spoiled. \"Neither is a\ncart wheel turned about upon the cummin;\" this little seed, perhaps the\ncarraway, would have been ground by so great a weight; it would have\nbeen preposterous to treat it in that rough manner. The fitches were\nsoon removed from the stalks by being \"beaten out with a staff,\" and the\ncummin needed nothing but a touch of a rod. For tender seeds the farmer\nuses gentle means, and for the hardier grains he reserves the sterner\nprocesses. Let us think of this, as it conveys a valuable spiritual\nlesson.\n\nReflect, my brother, that your threshing and mine _are in God's hands_.\nOur chastening is not left to servants, much less to enemies; \"we are\nchastened of the Lord!\" The Great Husbandman himself personally bids the\nlaborers do this and that, for they know not the time or the way except\nas divine wisdom shall direct; they would turn the wheel upon the\ncummin, or attempt to thresh wheat with a staff. I have seen God's\nservants trying both these follies; they have crushed the weak and\ntender, and they have dealt with partiality and softness with those who\nneeded to be sternly rebuked. How roughly some ministers, some elders,\nsome good men and women will go to work with timid, tender souls; yet we\nneed not fear that they will destroy the true-hearted, for, however much\nthey may vex them the Lord will not leave his chosen in their hands, but\nwill overrule their mistaken severity, and preserve his own from being\ndestroyed thereby. How glad I am of this; for there are many nowadays\nwho would grind the tender ones to powder if they could!\n\nAs the Lord has not left us in the power of man, so also he has not left\nus in the power of the devil. Satan may sift us as wheat, but he shall\nnot thresh us as fitches. He may blow away the chaff from us even with\nhis foul breath, but he shall not have the management of the Lord's\ncorn: \"the Lord preserveth the righteous.\" Not a stroke in providence\nis left to chance; the Lord ordains it, and arranges the time, the\nforce, and the place of it. The divine decree leaves nothing uncertain;\nthe jurisdiction of supreme love occupies itself with the smallest\nevents of our daily lives. Whether we bear the teeth of the corn-drag or\nmen do ride over our heads, or we endure the gentler touches of the\ndivine hand, everything is by appointment, and the appointment is fixed\nby infallible wisdom. Let this be a mine of comfort to the afflicted.\n\nNext, remark that _the instruments used for our threshing are chosen\nalso by the Great Husbandman_. The Eastern farmer, according to the\ntext, has several instruments, and so has our God. No form of threshing\nis pleasant to the seed which bears it; indeed, each one seems to the\nsufferer to be peculiarly objectionable. We say, \"I think I could bear\nanything but this sad trouble.\" We cry, \"It was not an enemy, then I\ncould have borne it,\" and so on. Perhaps the tender cummin foolishly\nfancies that the horse-hoofs would be a less terrible ordeal than the\nrod, and the fitches might even prefer the wheel to the staff; but\nhappily the matter is left to the choice of One who judges unerringly.\nWhat dost thou know about it, poor sufferer? How canst thou judge of\nwhat is good for thee? \"Ah!\" cries a mother, \"I would not mind poverty;\nbut to lose my darling child is too terrible!\" Another laments, \"I could\nhave parted with all my wealth, but to be slandered cuts me to the\nquick.\" There is no pleasing us in the matter of chastisement. When I\nwas at school, with my uncle for master, it often happened that he would\nsend me out to find a cane for him. It was not a very pleasant task, and\nI noticed that I never once succeeded in selecting a stick which was\nliked by the boy who had to feel it. Either it was too thin, or too\nstout; and in consequence I was threatened by the sufferers with condign\npunishment if I did not do better next time. I learned from that\nexperience never to expect God's children to like the particular rod\nwith which they are chastened. You smile at my simile, but you may smile\nat yourself when you find yourself crying, \"Any trouble but this, Lord.\nAny affliction but this.\" How idle it is to expect a pleasant trial; for\nit would then be no trial at all. Almost every really useful medicine is\nunpleasant: almost all effectual surgery is painful! no trial for the\npresent seemeth to be joyous, but grievous, yet it is the right trial,\nand none the less right because it is bitter.\n\nNotice, too, that God not only selects the instruments, _but he chooses\nthe place_. Farmers in the East have large threshing-floors upon which\nthey throw the sheaves of corn or barley, and upon these they turn\nhorses and drags; but near the house door I have often noticed in Italy\na much smaller circle of hardened clay or cement, and here I have seen\nthe peasants beating out their garden seeds in a more careful manner\nthan would naturally be used toward the greater heaps upon the larger\narea. Some saints are not afflicted in the common affairs of life, but\nthey have peculiar sorrow in their innermost spirits; they are beaten on\nthe smaller and more private threshing-floor; but the process is none\nthe less effectual. How foolish are we when we rebel against our Lord's\nappointment, and speak as if we had a right to choose our own\nafflictions! \"Should it be according to thy mind?\" Should a child select\nthe rod? Should the grain appoint its own thresher? Are not these\nthings to be left to a higher wisdom? Some complain of the time of their\ntrial; it is hard to be crippled in youth, or to be poor in age, or to\nbe widowed when your children are young. Yet in all this there is\nwisdom. A part of the skill of the physician may lie, not only in\nwriting a prescription, but in arranging the hours at which the medicine\nshall be taken. One draught may be most useful in the morning, and\nanother may be more beneficial in the evening; and so the Lord knows\nwhen it is best for us to drink of the cup which he has prepared for us.\nI know a dear child of God who is enduring a severe trial in his old\nage, and I would fain screen him from it because of his feebleness, but\nour heavenly Father knows best, and there we must leave it. The\ninstrument of the threshing, the place, the measure, the time, the end,\nare all appointed by infallible love.\n\nIt is interesting to notice in the text the limit of this threshing. The\nhusbandman is zealous to beat out the seed, but he is careful not to\nbreak it in pieces by too severe a process. His wheel is not to grind,\nbut to thresh; the horses' feet are not to break, but to separate. He\nintends to get the cummin out of its husk, but he will not turn a heavy\ndrag upon it utterly to smash it up and destroy it. In the same way the\nLord has a measure in all his chastening. Courage, tried friend, you\nshall be afflicted as you need, but not as you deserve; tribulation\nshall come as you are able to bear it. As is the strength such shall the\naffliction be; the wheat may feel the wheel, but the fitches shall bear\nnothing heavier than a staff. No saint shall be tempted beyond the\nproper measure, and the limit is fixed by a tenderness which never deals\na needless stroke.\n\nIt is very easy to talk like this in cool blood, and quite another thing\nto remember it when the flail is hammering you; yet have I personally\nrealized this truth upon the bed of pain, and in the furnace of mental\ndistress. I thank God at every remembrance of my afflictions; I did not\ndoubt his wisdom then, nor have I had any reason to question it since.\nOur Great Husbandman understands how to divide us from the husk, and he\ngoes about his work in a way for which he deserves to be adored for\never.\n\nIt is a pleasant thought that God's limit is one beyond which trials\nnever go--\n\n  \"If trials six be fix'd for men\n      They shall not suffer seven.\n   If God appoint afflictions ten\n      They ne'er can be eleven.\"\n\nThe old law ordained forty stripes save one, and in all our scourgings\nthere always comes in that \"save one.\" When the Lord multiplies our\nsorrows up to a hundred, it is because ninety-and-nine failed to effect\nhis purpose; but all the powers of earth and hell cannot give us one\nblow above the settled number. We shall never endure a superfluity of\nthreshing. The Lord never sports with the feelings of his saints. \"He\ndoes not afflict willingly,\" and so we may be sure he never gives an\nunnecessary blow.\n\nThe wisdom of the husbandman in limiting his threshing is far exceeded\nin the wisdom of God by which he sets a limit to our griefs. Some escape\nwith little trouble, and perhaps it is because they are frail and\nsensitive. The little garden seeds must not be beaten too heavily lest\nthey be injured; those saints who bear about with them a delicate body\nmust not be roughly handled, nor shall they be. Possibly they have a\nfeeble mind also, and that which others would laugh at would be death to\nthem; they shall be kept as the apple of the eye.\n\nIf you are free from tribulation never ask for it; that would be a great\nfolly. I did meet with a brother a little while ago who said that he was\nmuch perplexed because he had no trouble. I said, \"Do not worry about\n_that_; but be happy while you may.\" Only a queer child would beg to be\nflogged. Certain sweet and shining saints are of such a gentle spirit\nthat the Lord does not expose them to the same treatment as he metes out\nto others; they do not need it, and they could not bear it; why should\nthey wish for it?\n\nOthers, again, are very heavily pressed; but what of that if they are a\nsuperior grain, a seed of larger usefulness, intended for higher\npurposes? Let not such regret that they have to endure a heavier\nthreshing since their use is greater. It is the bread corn that must go\nunder the feet of the horseman and must feel the wheel of the cart; and\nso the most useful have to pass through the sternest processes. There is\nnot one among us but what would say, \"I could wish that I were Martin\nLuther, or that I could play as noble a part as he did.\" Yes; but in\naddition to the outward perils of his life, the inward experiences of\nthat remarkable man were such as none of us would wish to feel. He was\nfrequently tormented with Satanic temptations, and driven to the verge\nof despair. At one hour he rode the whirlwind and the storm, master of\nall the world, and then after days of fighting with the pope and the\ndevil he would go home to his bed and lie there broken-down and\ntrembling. You see God's heroes only in the pulpit, or in other public\nplaces, you know not what they are before God in secret. You do not know\ntheir inner life; else you might discover that the bread corn is\nbruised, and that those who are most useful in comforting others have to\nendure frequent sorrow themselves. Envy no man; for you do not know how\nhe may have to be threshed to make him right and keep him so.\n\nBrethren, we see that our God uses discretion in the chastisement of his\npeople; let us use a loving prudence when we have to deal with others in\nthat way. Be gentle as well as firm with your children; and if you have\nto rebuke your brother do it very tenderly. Do not drive your horses\nover the tender seed. Recollect that the cummin is beaten out with a\nstaff and not crushed out with a wheel. Take a very light rod. Perhaps\nit would be as well if you had no rod at all, but left that work to\nwiser hands. Go you and sow and leave your elders to thresh.\n\nNext let us firmly believe in God's discretion, and be sure that he is\ndoing the right thing by us. Let us not be anxious to be screened from\naffliction. When we ask that the cup may pass from us let it be with a\n\"nevertheless not as I will.\" Best of all, let us freely part with our\nchaff. The likeliest way to escape the flail is to separate from the\nhusk as quickly as possible. \"Come ye out from among them.\" Separate\nyourselves from sin and sinners, from the world and worldliness, and the\nprocess of threshing will all the sooner be completed. God make us wise\nin this matter!\n\n\nIII. A word or two is all we can afford upon the third head, which is\nthat THE THRESHING WILL NOT LAST FOREVER.\n\nThe threshing will not last all our days even here: \"Bread corn is\nbruised, but he will not always be threshing it.\" Oh, no. \"For a small\nmoment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.\"\n\"He will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger for ever.\"\n\"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.\"\nRejoice, ye daughters of sorrow! Be comforted, ye sons of grief! Have\nhope in God, for you shall yet praise him who is the health of your\ncountenance. The rain does not always fall, nor will the clouds always\nreturn. Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Threshing is not an\noperation which the corn requires all the year round; for the most part\nthe flail is idle. Bless the Lord, O my soul! The Lord will yet bring\nhome his banished ones.\n\nAbove all, tribulation will not last forever, for we shall soon be gone\nto another and better world. We shall soon be carried to the land where\nthere are neither threshing-floors nor corn-drags. I sometimes think I\nhear the herald calling me. His trumpet sounds: \"Up and away! Boot and\nsaddle! Up and away! Leave the camp and the battle, and return in\ntriumph.\" The night is far spent with you, but the morning cometh. The\ndaylight breaks above yon hills. The day is coming--the day that shall\ngo no more down forever. Come, eat your bread with joy, and march onward\nwith a merry heart; for the land which floweth with milk and honey is\nbut a little way before you. Until the day break and the shadows flee\naway, abide the Great Husbandman's will, and may the Lord glorify\nhimself in you. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nWHEAT IN THE BARN.\n\n\"Gather the wheat into my barn.\"--MATTHEW 13:30.\n\n\n\"GATHER the wheat into my barn.\" Then the purpose of the Son of man will\nbe accomplished. He sowed good seed, and he shall have his barn filled\nwith it at the last. Be not dispirited, Christ will not be disappointed.\n\"He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.\" He\nwent forth weeping, bearing precious seed, but he shall come again\nrejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.\n\n\"Gather the wheat into my barn;\" then Satan's policy will be\nunsuccessful. The enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, hopeful\nthat the false wheat would destroy or materially injure the true; but he\nfailed in the end, for the wheat ripened and was ready to be gathered.\nChrist's garner shall be filled; the tares shall not choke the wheat.\nThe evil one will be put to shame.\n\nIn gathering in the wheat, good angels will be employed: \"the angels are\nthe reapers.\" This casts special scorn upon the great evil angel. He\nsows the tares, and tries to destroy the harvest; and therefore the good\nangels are brought in to celebrate his defeat, and to rejoice together\nwith their Lord in the success of the divine husbandry. Satan will make\na poor profit out of his meddling; he shall be baulked in all his\nefforts, and so the threat shall be fulfilled, \"Upon thy belly shalt\nthou go, and dust shalt thou eat.\"\n\nBy giving the angels work to do, all intelligent creatures, of whose\nexistence we have information, are made to take an interest in the work\nof grace; whether for malice or for adoration, redemption excites them\nall. To all, the wonderful works of God are made manifest; for these\nthings were not done in a corner.\n\nWe too much forget the angels. Let us not overlook their tender sympathy\nwith us; they behold the Lord rejoicing over our repentance, and they\nrejoice with him; they are our watchers and the Lord's messengers of\nmercy; they bear us up in their hands lest we dash our foot against a\nstone; and when we come to die, they carry us to the bosom of our Lord.\nIt is one of our joys that we have come to an innumerable company of\nangels; let us think of them with affection.\n\nAt this time I will keep to my text, and preach from it almost word by\nword. It begins with \"but,\" and that is A WORD OF SEPARATION.\n\nHere note that the tares and the wheat will grow together until the time\nof harvest shall come. It is a great sorrow of heart to some of the\nwheat to be growing side by side with tares. The ungodly are as thorns\nand briers to those who fear the Lord. How frequently is the sigh forced\nforth from the godly heart: \"Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I\ndwell in the tents of Kedar!\" A man's foes are often found within his\nown household; those who should have been his best helpers are often his\nworst hinderers; their conversation vexes and torments him. It is of\nlittle use to try to escape from them, for the tares are permitted in\nGod's providence to grow with the wheat, and they will do so until the\nend. Good men have emigrated to distant lands to found communities in\nwhich there should be none but saints, and, alas! sinners have sprung up\nin their own families. The attempt to weed the ungodly and heretical out\nof the settlement has led to persecution and other evils, and the whole\nplan has proved a failure. Others have shut themselves away in\nhermitages to avoid the temptations of the world, and so have hoped to\nwin the victory by running away; this is not the way of wisdom. The word\nfor this present is, \"Let both grow together;\" _but_ there will come a\ntime when a final separation will be made. Then, dear Christian woman,\nyour husband will never persecute you again. Godly sister, your brother\nwill heap no more ridicule upon you. Pious workman, there will be no\nmore jesting and taunting from the ungodly. That \"but\" will be an iron\ngate between the god-fearing and the godless; then will the tares be\ncast into the fire, _but_ the Lord of the harvest will say, \"Gather the\nwheat into my barn.\"\n\nThis separation must be made; for the growing of the wheat and the tares\ntogether on earth has caused much pain and injury, and therefore it will\nnot be continued in a happier world. We can very well suppose that godly\nmen and women might be willing that their unconverted children should\ndwell with them in heaven; but it cannot be, for God will not have his\ncleansed ones defiled nor his glorified ones tried by the presence of\nthe unbelieving. The tares must be taken away in order to the\nperfectness and usefulness of the wheat. Would you have the tares and\nthe wheat heaped up together in the granary in one mass? That would be\nill husbandry with a vengeance. They can neither of them be put to\nappropriate use till thoroughly separated. Even so, mark you, the saved\nand the unsaved may live together here, but they must not live together\nin another world. The command is absolute: \"Gather the tares, and bind\nthem in bundles to burn them: _but_ gather the wheat into my barn.\"\nSinner, can you hope to enter heaven? You never loved your mother's God,\nand is he to endure you in his heavenly courts? You never trusted your\nfather's Saviour, and yet are you to behold his glory for ever? Are you\nto go swaggering down the streets of heaven, letting fall an oath, or\nsinging a loose song? Why, you know, you get tired of the worship of God\non the Lord's day; do you think that the Lord will endure unwilling\nworshippers in the temple above? The Sabbath is a wearisome day to you;\nhow can you hope to enter into the Sabbath of God? You have no taste for\nheavenly pursuits, and these things would be profaned if you were\npermitted to partake in them; therefore that word \"but\" must come in,\nand you must part from the Lord's people never to meet again. Can you\nbear to think of being divided from godly friends for ever and ever?\n\nThat separation involves an awful difference of destiny. \"Gather the\ntares in bundles to burn them.\" I do not dare to draw the picture; but\nwhen the bundle is bound up there is no place for it except the fire.\nGod grant that you may never know all the anguish which burning must\nmean; but may you escape from it at once. It is no trifle which the Lord\nof love compares to being consumed with fire. I am quite certain that no\nwords of mine can ever set forth its terror. They say that we speak\ndreadful things about the wrath to come; but I am sure that we\nunderstate the case. What must the tender, loving, gracious Jesus have\nmeant by the words, \"Gather the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn\nthem?\" See what a wide distinction between the lot of the Lord's people\nand Satan's people. Burn the wheat? Oh, no; \"Gather the wheat into my\nbarn.\" There let them be happily, safely housed for ever. Oh, the\ninfinite distance between heaven and hell!--the harps and the angels,\nand the wailing and gnashing of teeth! Who can ever measure the width of\nthat gulf which divides the glorified saint, white-robed and crowned\nwith immortality, from the soul which is driven forever away from the\npresence of God, and from the glory of his power? It is a dreadful\n\"but\"--that \"but\" of separation. I pray you, remember that it will\ninterpose between brother and brother--between mother and child--between\nhusband and wife. \"One shall be taken and the other left.\" And when that\nsword shall descend to divide, there shall never be any after union. The\nseparation is eternal. There is no hope or possibility of change in the\nworld to come.\n\nBut, says one, \"that dreadful '_but_'! Why must there be such a\ndifference?\" The answer is, Because there always was a difference. The\nwheat was sown by the Son of man; the false wheat was sown by the enemy.\nThere was always a difference in character--the wheat was good, the\ntares were evil. This difference did not appear at first, but it became\nmore and more apparent as the wheat ripened, and as the tares ripened\ntoo. They were totally different plants; and so a regenerate person and\nan unregenerate person are altogether different beings. I have heard an\nunregenerate man say that he is quite as good as the godly man; but in\nso boasting he betrayed his pride. Surely there is as great a\ndifference in God's sight between the unsaved and the believer as\nbetween darkness and light, or between the dead and the living. There is\nin the one a life which there is not in the other, and the difference is\nvital and radical. Oh, that you may never trifle with this essential\nmatter, but be really the wheat of the Lord! It is vain to have the name\nof wheat, we must have the nature of wheat. God will not be mocked; he\nwill not be pleased by our calling ourselves Christians while we are not\nso. Be not satisfied with church membership; but seek after membership\nwith Christ. Do not talk about faith, but exercise it. Do not boast of\nexperience, but possess it. Be not _like_ the wheat, but be the wheat.\nNo shams and imitations will stand in the last great day; that terrible\n\"but\" will roll as a sea of fire between the true and the false. Oh Holy\nSpirit! let each of us be found transformed by thy power.\n\n\nII. The second word of our text is \"gather\"--that is A WORD OF\nCONGREGATION. What a blessed thing this gathering is! I feel it a great\npleasure to gather multitudes together to hear the gospel; and is it not\na joy to see a house full of people, on week-days and Sabbath-days, who\nare willing to leave their homes and to come considerable distances to\nlisten to the gospel? It is a great thing to gather people together for\nthat; but the gathering of the wheat into the barn is a far more\nwonderful business. Gathering is in itself better than scattering, and I\npray that the Lord Jesus may ever exercise his attracting power in this\nplace; for he is no Divider, but \"unto him shall the gathering of the\npeople be.\" Has he not said, \"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will\ndraw all men unto me\"?\n\nObserve, that the congregation mentioned in our text is selected and\nassembled by skilled gatherers: \"The angels are the reapers.\" Ministers\ncould not do it, for they do not know all the Lord's wheat, and they are\napt to make mistakes--some by too great leniency, and others by\nexcessive severity. Our poor judgments occasionally shut out saints, and\noften shut in sinners. The angels will know their Master's property.\nThey know each saint, for they were present at his birthday. Angels know\nwhen sinners repent, and they never forget the persons of the penitents.\nThey have witnessed the lives of those who have believed, and have\nhelped them in their spiritual battles, and so they know them. Yes,\nangels by a holy instinct discern the Father's children, and are not to\nbe deceived. They will not fail to gather all the wheat and to leave out\nevery tare.\n\nBut they are gathered under a very stringent regulation; for, first of\nall, according to the parable, the tares, the false wheat, have been\ntaken out, and then the angelic reapers gather nothing but the wheat.\nThe seed of the serpent, fathered by Satan, is thus separated from the\nseed of the kingdom, owned by Jesus, the promised deliverer. This is the\none distinction; and no other is taken into consideration. If the most\namiable unconverted persons could stand in the ranks with the saints,\nthe angels would not bear them to heaven, for the mandate is, \"Gather\nthe wheat.\" Could the most honest man be found standing in the centre of\nthe church, with all the members round about him, and with all the\nministers entreating that he might be spared, yet if he were not a\nbeliever he could not be carried into the divine garner. There is no\nhelp for it. The angels have no choice in the matter; the peremptory\ncommand is, \"Gather _the wheat_,\" and they must gather none else.\n\nIt will be a gathering from very great distances. Some of the wheat\nripens in the South Sea Islands, in China, and in Japan. Some flourishes\nin France, broad acres grow in the United States; there is scarce a land\nwithout a portion of the good grain. Where all God's wheat grows I\ncannot tell. There is a remnant, according to the election of grace,\namong every nation and people; but the angels will gather all the good\ngrain to the same garner.\n\n\"Gather the wheat.\" The saints will be found in all ranks of society.\nThe angels will bring in a few ears from palaces, and great armfuls from\ncottages! Many will be collected from the lowly cottages of our villages\nand hamlets, and others will be upraised from the back slums of our\ngreat cities to the metropolis of God. From the darkest places angels\nwill bring those children of sweetness and light who seldom beheld the\nsun, and yet were pure in heart and saw their God. The hidden and\nobscure shall be brought into the light, for the Lord knoweth them that\nare his, and his harvestmen will not miss them.\n\nTo me it is a charming thought that they will come from all the ages.\nLet us hope that our first father Adam will be there, and mother Eve,\nfollowing in the footsteps of their dear son Abel, and trusting in the\nsame sacrifice. We shall meet Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses,\nand David, and Daniel, and all the saints made perfect. What a joy to\nsee the apostles, martyrs, and reformers! I long to see Luther, and\nCalvin, and Bunyan, and Whitefield. I like the rhyme of good old father\nRyland:\n\n  \"They all shall be there, the great and the small,\n   Poor I shall shake hands with the blessed St. Paul.\"\n\nI do not know how that will be, but I have not much doubt that we shall\nhave fellowship with all the saints of every age in the general assembly\nand church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.\n\nNo matter when or where the wheat grew, it shall be gathered into the\none barn; gathered never to be scattered; gathered out of all divisions\nof the visible church, never to be divided again. They grew in different\nfields. Some flourished on the hillside where Episcopalians grow in all\ntheir glory, and others in the lowlier soil, where Baptists multiply,\nand Methodists flourish; but once the wheat is in the barn none can tell\nin which field the ears grew. Then, indeed, shall the Master's prayer\nhave a glorious answer--\"That they all may be one.\" All our errors\nremoved and our mistakes corrected and forgiven, the one Lord, the one\nfaith, and the one baptism will be known of us all, and there will be no\nmore vexings and envyings. What a blessed gathering it will be! What a\nmeeting! The elect of God, the _\u00e9lite_ of all the centuries, of whom the\nworld was not worthy. I should not like to be away. If there were no\nhell, it would be hell enough to me to be shut out of such heavenly\nsociety. If there were no weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, it\nwould be dreadful enough to miss the presence of the Lord, and the joy\nof praising him forever, and the bliss of meeting with all the noblest\nbeings that ever lived. Amid the needful controversies of the age, I,\nwho have been doomed to seem a man of strife, sigh for the blessed rest\nwherein all spiritual minds shall blend in eternal accord before the\nthrone of God and of the Lamb. Oh that we were all right, that we might\nbe all happily united in one spirit!\n\n\nIn the text there is next A WORD OF DESIGNATION. I have already\ntrespassed upon that domain. \"Gather _the wheat_.\" Nothing but \"the\nwheat\" must be placed in the Lord's homestead. Lend me your hearts while\nI urge you to a searching examination for a minute or two. The wheat was\nsown of the Lord. Are you sown of the Lord? Friend, if you have any\nreligion, how did you get it? Was it self-sown? If so, it is good for\nnothing. The true wheat was sown by the Son of man. Are you sown of the\nLord? Did the Spirit of God drop eternal life into your bosom? Did it\ncome from that dear hand which was nailed to the cross? Is Jesus your\nlife? Does your life begin and end with him? If so, it is well.\n\nThe wheat sown of the Lord is also the object of the Lord's care. Wheat\nneeds a deal of attention. The farmer would get nothing from it if he\ndid not watch it carefully. Are you under the Lord's care? Does he keep\nyou? Is that word true to your soul, \"I the Lord do keep it; I will\nwater it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day?\"\nDo you experience such keeping? Make an honest answer, as you love your\nsoul.\n\nNext, wheat is a useful thing, a gift from God for the life of men. The\nfalse wheat was of no good to anybody; it could only be eaten of swine,\nand then it made them stagger like drunken men. Are you one of those who\nare wholesome in society--who are like bread to the world, so that if\nmen receive you and your example and your teaching they will be blessed\nthereby? Judge yourselves whether ye are good or evil in life and\ninfluence.\n\n\"Gather the wheat.\" You know that God must put the goodness, the grace,\nthe solidity, and the usefulness into you, or else you will never be\nwheat fit for angelic gathering. One thing is true of the wheat--that it\nis the most dependent of all plants. I have never heard of a field of\nwheat which sprang up, and grew, and ripened without a husbandman's\ncare. Some ears may appear after a harvest when the corn has shaled out;\nbut I have never heard of plains in America or elsewhere covered with\nunsown wheat. No, no. There is no wheat where there is no man, and there\nis no grace where there is no Christ. We owe our very existence to the\nFather, who is the husbandman.\n\nYet, dependent as it is, wheat stands in the front rank of honor and\nesteem; and so do the godly in the judgment of all who are of\nunderstanding heart. We are nothing without Christ; but with him we are\nfull of honor. Oh, to be among those by whom the world is preserved, the\nexcellent of the earth in whom the saints delight; God forbid we should\nbe among the base and worthless tares!\n\n\nOur last head, upon which also I will speak briefly, is A WORD OF\nDESTINATION. \"Gather the wheat _into my barn_.\" The process of gathering\nin the wheat will be completed at the day of judgment, but it is going\non every day. From hour to hour saints are gathered; they are going\nheavenward even now. I am so glad to hear as a regular thing that the\ndeparted ones from my own dear church have such joy in being harvested.\nGlory be to God, our people die well. The best thing is to live well,\nbut we are greatly gladdened to hear that the brethren die well; for,\nfull often, that is the most telling witness for vital godliness. Men of\nthe world feel the power of triumphant deaths.\n\nEvery hour the saints are being gathered into the barn. That is where\nthey want to be. We feel no pain at the news of ingathering, for we wish\nto be safely stored up by our Lord. If the wheat that is in the field\ncould speak, every ear would say, \"The ultimatum for which we are living\nand growing is the barn, the granary.\" For this the frosty night; for\nthis the sunny day; for this the dew and the rain; and for this\neverything. Every process with the wheat is tending toward the granary.\nSo is it with us; everything is working toward heaven--toward the\ngathering place--toward the congregation of the righteous--toward the\nvision of our Redeemer's face. Our death will cause no jar in our\nlife-music; it will involve no pause or even discord; it is part of a\nprogramme, the crowning of our whole history.\n\nTo the wheat the barn is the place of security. It dreads no mildew\nthere; it fears no frost, no heat, no drought, no wet, when once in the\nbarn. All its growth-perils are past. It has reached its perfection. It\nhas rewarded the labor of the husbandman, and it is housed. Oh,\nlong-expected day, begin! Oh, brethren, what a blessing it will be when\nyou and I shall have come to our maturity, and Christ shall see in us\nthe travail of his soul.\n\nI delight to think of heaven as _his_ barn; _his_ barn, what must that\nbe? It is but the poverty of language that such an expression has to be\nused at all concerning the home of our Father, the dwelling of Jesus.\nHeaven is the palace of the King, but, so far, to us a barn, because it\nis the place of security, the place of rest for ever. It is the\nhomestead of Christ to which we shall be carried, and for this we are\nripening. It is to be thought of with ecstatic joy; for the gathering\ninto the barn involves a harvest home, and I have never heard of men\nsitting down to cry over an earthly harvest home, nor of their following\nthe sheaves with tears. Nay, they clap their hands, they dance for joy,\nand shout right lustily. Let us do something like that concerning those\nwho are already housed. With grave, sweet melodies let us sing around\ntheir tombs. Let us feel that, surely, the bitterness of death is\npassed. When we remember their glory, we may rejoice like the travailing\nwoman when her child is born, who \"remembereth no more the anguish, for\njoy that a man is born into the world.\" Another soul begins to sing in\nheaven; why do you weep, O heirs of immortality? Is the eternal\nhappiness of the righteous the birth which comes of their death-pangs?\nThen happy are they who die. Is glory the end and outcome of that which\nfills our home with mourning? If so, thank God for bereavements; thank\nGod for saddest severings. He has promoted our dear ones to the skies!\nHe has blessed them beyond all that we could ask or even think; he has\ntaken them out of this weary world to lie in his own bosom for ever.\nBlessed be his name if it were for nothing else but this. Would you keep\nyour old father here, full of pain, and broken down with feebleness?\nWould you shut him out of glory? Would you detain your dear wife here\nwith all her suffering? Would you hold back your husband from the crown\nimmortal? Could you wish your child to descend to earth again from the\nbliss which now surrounds her? No, no. We wish to be going home\nourselves to the heavenly Father's house and its many mansions; but\nconcerning the departed we rejoice before the Lord as with the joy of\nharvest. \"Wherefore comfort one another with these words.\"\n\n\n\n\n  _Funk & Wagnalls' Important Publications._\n\n\n  The Ethics of Marriage.\n\n  BY H. S. POMEROY, M.D.\n\n  Prefatory note by Thomas Addis Emmett, M.D., LL.D., and Introduction\n  by Rev. J. T. Duryea, D.D., of Boston. With an appendix showing the\n  laws of most of the States and Territories regarding certain forms of\n  crime. 12mo, cloth, 190 pp. Price, $1.00.\n\n  The Author says in the preface:\n\n  \"The matters here treated have been on my heart for many years.\n  Heart-sickening facts have come to my notice within the past few\n  months, and I feel it my duty to send out this warning in regard to\n  what I consider the first and greatest danger of our family and\n  national life. I believe the prevention or destruction of unborn human\n  life to be, par-excellence, the American sin, and that, if not\n  checked, it will sooner or later be our calamity. This sin has its\n  roots in a low and false idea of marriage on the part of some, and in\n  others it is fostered by false standards of modesty.\"\n\n  Chicago Journal says:\n\n  \"To the earnest man and woman everywhere, who has watched the reckless\n  manner in which marriages are contracted, the wicked way in which the\n  responsibilities are shifted and ignored, and the slow and sure\n  defilement of society because the criminal classes are allowed to\n  propagate their vile species, while Christian households and moral\n  parents ignore their duty to this and to the next world, this book is\n  almost like a voice from heaven.\"\n\n\n  A Man's Will.\n\n  BY EDGAR FAWCETT.\n\n  It presents pictures of New York life and shows the terribly degrading\n  effects of drunkenness in the upper ranks of society. A temperance\n  novel of surprising interest. 12mo, cloth, $1.50.\n\n  The New York Press says:\n\n  \"The best temperance story published in many years, if indeed its\n  equal exists. The author, evidently conscious that his subject is one\n  on which too much cannot be said, and well aware that the sufferings\n  of alcoholic victims and all connected with them, are beyond\n  description, has grappled with his work in deadly earnest. Old and\n  young people ought to read and ponder over this good and brilliantly\n  prepared study.\"\n\n\n\n\n  _Funk & Wagnalls' Important Publications._\n\n\n  Life of John B. Finch.\n\n  BY FRANCES E. FINCH and FRANK J. SIBLEY.\n\n  Mr. Finch was Right Worthy Grand Templar of I. O. G. T. of the World.\n  Will contain all his great temperance speeches. Introduction by Miss\n  Frances E. Willard; articles by Mrs. Woodbridge, Prof. Hopkins,\n  Senator Blair, etc., etc. Agents wanted. Numerous Illustrations. Steel\n  Portrait. Cloth, crown 8vo, 500 pages. Price, $1.50.\n\n  \"Good Templars will mourn his loss as irreparable.\"--_Gen. Clinton B.\n  Fisk._\n\n  \"No man his equal as a speaker and organizer.\"--_Col. R. S. Cheves._\n\n  \"An able and sincere man.\"--_Ex-Gov. Hoadly of Ohio._\n\n\n  Prohibition Bells,\n\n  And SONGS OF THE NEW CRUSADE. Compiled by the famous SILVER LAKE\n  QUARTETTE. Stirring words put to catchy music. Second edition. Paper,\n  20 cents; board, 30 cents. Special rates on large quantities.\n\n  \"These bells are not muffled; they give out no uncertain sound. The\n  fifty-two notes are clear, high, piercing, pulse-quickening,\n  soul-uplifting; yet to the old parties, doubtless, very discordant.\n  They will be heard throughout the land, for they call to better, purer\n  living, both by the individual and the State. The book cannot but be a\n  _vade-mecum_ to every Prohibitionist organization, be it large or\n  small, for a song often wins a vote when an oration fails; and then\n  how tame is a campaign without music!\"\n\n\n  The Supreme Court Decision.\n\n  The Great Prohibition Decision announced by the Supreme Court of the\n  United States. With Introductions and annotations kindly furnished by\n  Hon. S. W. PACKARD of Chicago, Ill. 12mo, paper, 20 cents.\n\n  Every Prohibitionist recognizes the extreme value of this pamphlet, as\n  it gives the conclusive testimony of the highest courts as to the\n  legality of Prohibition laws.","title":"Talks to Farmers","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":96750}